Category Archives: Genetic Engineering

Genetic Engineering and Genetically Modified Foods – Michael Pollan

Posted on August 16, 2009 by MyOrbit-Team| 1 Comment

Being involved in farming ventures first hand (Big India Farms), we support what Michael Pollan is saying in this video.

“The real key to genetic engineering is control of intellectual property of the food crops that we depend on,” says Michael Pollan of companies like Monsanto. He advocates an open source Genetic Engineering (GE) mode, because today, you can’t publish your? research on Genetically Modified seeds by Monsanto otherwise they would bring a legal case against you.

Farming has become an occupation and cultural force of the past. Michael Pollan’s talk promoted the premise — and hope — that farming can become an occupation and force of the future. In the past century American farmers were given the assignment to produce lots of calories cheaply, and they did. They became the most productive humans on earth. A single farmer in Iowa could feed 150 of his neighbors. That is a true modern miracle.

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Posted in 5 Questions, Genetic Engineering, Geo-Americas, Innovation, Intellectual Property, MyOrbit Videos

Genetically Modified Foods show Bad Results in Animals

Posted on July 29, 2009 by MyOrbit-Team| Leave a comment

On May 19th, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine called on “Physicians to educate their patients, the medical community, and the public to avoid GM (genetically modified) foods when possible and provide educational materials concerning GM foods and health risks.

Read the entire article by GMO expert Jeffrey Smith in the PPNF Journal. Join the Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation at http://www.ppnf.org .

Also, visit http://www.responsibletechnology.org for more GMO information.

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Posted in Biotech, Genetic Engineering, Geo-Americas, Geo-APAC, Innovation, MyOrbit Videos

The Business Strategy of Genetically Engineered/Modified Seeds

Posted on August 16, 2008 by MyOrbit-Team| Leave a comment

Genetically modified seeds can give higher farm yield but they come at a high price because the real cost of the seeds comes from the sustained dependency of the farmer on the seed company. In fact, for the control it gets on the farmers, the seed company could even give the seeds for free.

So the business strategy is very similar to how the printer companies like HP can actually afford to give the printers free, because the actual money comes from the printer cartridge sale.

The main difference is that seeds are much more important for a country’s economy, especially for a country like India with a large base of farmers who depend completely on agricultural income. It is also believed that most domestic seed companies in India are controlled or influenced by the multinational seed company.

A company like Monsanto is just doing its business. They have made investments in R&D and want profits like any other business. The solution lies in having more educated farmers who can make informed decisions about when to use Genetically Engineered/Modified Seeds and when to stick to organic seeds.

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Posted in 5 Questions, Biotech, Business Strategy, Genetic Engineering, Innovation, MyOrbit Videos