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<p><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"'>Remember
<em><span style='font-family:"Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"'>Jurassic Park?</span></em>
Remember Jeff Goldblum playing Dr. Ian Malcolm? Remember when he ever so
eruditely commented on the DNA cloning of dinosaurs with this jewel ...<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin-left:.5in'><em><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"'>"Yeah,
but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they
didn't stop to think if they should."</span></em><span style='font-size:
8.5pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"'>I
often think of that quote as a perfect metaphor for a bunch of stuff we
oh-so-clever humans do these days, but specifically today I thought of it when
reading about the <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/" target="_blank">Union of
Concerned Scientists</a> new report, <em><span style='font-family:"Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"'><a
href="http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/science_and_impacts/science/failure-to-yield.html"
target="_blank">Failure to Yield: Evaluating the Performance of Genetically
Engineered Crops</a>.</span></em><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"'>The
UCS just keeps on rockin' in the food world. Brief summary:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin-left:.5in'><em><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"'>Contrary
to proponents' claims, genetic engineering (GE) technology has produced, at
best, only small increases in yields of major food crops compared with other
agricultural methods, according to a new UCS report. The report examined dozens
of peer-reviewed studies and found that U.S. yields of soybeans and corn have
increased over the past 15 years mainly thanks to traditional breeding and
other agricultural practices. The report also concluded that, due to the
technical complexity of the task, engineering crop genes for high yield is
unlikely to help the world feed itself in the foreseeable future. The report
recommends a shift in research emphasis toward traditional breeding and modern
ecological farming methods, which have been woefully underfunded.</span></em><span
style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"'>And
money quote:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin-left:.5in'><em><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"'>"Despite
the common assertion that we need GE crops to solve world hunger, </span></em><strong><i><u><span
style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"'>we found that
these crops just don't live up to the claims made about them</span></u></i></strong><em><span
style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"'>. The GE
industry should stop making false claims about yield, and the U.S. government
should reconsider its policy of promoting this expensive and disappointing
technology to the developing world." ~ Doug Gurian-Sherman, Senior
Scientist, Food & Environment</span></em><span style='font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:"Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"'>And
link to <a
href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/governmentFilingsNews/idUKN1442276820090414"
target="_blank">Reuters</a> story.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"'>Ya
know .... maybe Mother Nature really does know best after all.</span><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Corbel","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='line-height:150%;
font-family:"Malgun Gothic","sans-serif";color:black'>::: shauna </span><span
style='line-height:150%;font-family:"Malgun Gothic","sans-serif";color:#913200'>lawyer</span><span
style='line-height:150%;font-family:"Malgun Gothic","sans-serif";color:black'>
struby</span><b><span style='font-family:"Malgun Gothic","sans-serif";
color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-family:"Arial Narrow","sans-serif";
color:#913200'><a href="http://thinklady.typepad.com">http://thinklady.typepad.com</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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