I love how leftists are oh-so-smug about their support of scientific evidence, then they post images like this and pretend like they’re peer reviewed studies.
I’ll try my best to explain the biochemical differences between genetically altered corn and unmodified corn as well as other variables such as pesticide usage, overall costs, yield and the economic outcomes. Full disclosure, I’m better suited to explain the economic reasoning, but I consulted a biochemist over this who helped me understand the difference between modified and non-modified corn. This biochemist also promised to rip me apart if I get anything wrong, so here goes nothing.
Economically, GMO’s provide higher yields per acre. This isn’t too big of a deal for an industrialized nation like America, but in some countries like India, GMO crops are cutting losses in half.
More food, less hungry people.
So to answer the question, yes, I am smarter than a squirrel.
I wanted to add to this, because GMO’s are so misunderstood and the political controversy that surrounds them is based in scientific illiteracy.
One of the coolest GMO’s I know about is “golden rice.” Vitamin A deficiency is fairly rampant in parts of Asia. When children are deficient in vitamin A it results in blindness. Furthermore, Vitamin A deficiency contributes to 2 million childhood deaths each year (2012 Am J Clin Nutr, 96:658-64). Scientists genetically modified golden rice in order to provide vitamin A.
UNFORTUNATELY political opposition has delayed the release of golden rice for over a decade. And as @libertybill pointed out, no one dies from genetically modified food.
If you are against GMO’s because you think Monsanto is a big baddy (which I’m not going to pretend they haven’t done some asshole-ish things) or you think the GMO is going to cause cancer or some other stupid ass thing, please take time to educate yourself.
Mewtwo is a Pokémon that was created by genetic manipulation. However, even though the scientific power of humans created this Pokémon’s body, they failed to endow Mewtwo with a compassionate heart.
Mewtwo is the product of decades of genetic engineering. Years of gene decoding, splicing, and cloning gave birth to the strongest and quite possibly the most tragic pokemon to date. What’s more, there are heavy implications that Mewtwo was not just cloned from Mew, but is part human as well.
DNA is the basic component for all genomes. Within the double stranded helix, every bit of information you can think of is present. What texture of hair, what colors you can see, if you have scales, resistance to certain diseases, and anything else you can’t think of that makes you, you is inside the DNA.
Cloning is relatively easy: genetic engineering, on the other hand, is not. The whole intent behind Mewtwo was to create the strongest pokemon possible. This is IV breeding to the extreme. To do this, scientists would have to decode the entire genome sequence of Mew, to determine what traits they wanted to keep, and what not. Keep the strength. Toss the cute. Funnel and focus the psychic ability. Dump the natural innocence.
Once you’ve managed to sequence the DNA and isolate the pieces you want, the next step is extracting it. This is most commonly done through a process called PCR, Polymerase Chain Reaction. This is an extremely specific process that usually involves 20-30 repeated temperature cycles. Because of this, PCR machines have been invented to automate the temperature of the sample in these cycles.
Essentially, the sample is heated quickly such that the DNA strand splits apart. This allows a specially engineered primer to enter in, and locate the target sequence. Think of the primer like a puzzle piece. It only fits one place in the DNA, where it will gladly connect. The primer, however, is just the starting point. Once it attaches, free nucleotides will come in and attach themselves to the primer, creating an extended exact copy of the desired gene sequence, at which point it will leave and the DNA strand will zip itself back together.
After that, the newly-created copies of the target gene sequences can be inserted into another organism. Or more commonly, embyros. The engineered embryo was implanted into Mew, and on February 6th, Mewtwo was born.
This method has been used to create glow in the dark rabbits, Jurassic Park style chicken egg dinosaurs, or the harsh and powerful Mewtwo.
PiraticOctopus 