• thisismyrealname [he/him]
    ·
    edit-2
    4 years ago

    no that's literally true, we haven't been doing it in labs with fancy equipment for very long, but humans have been breeding plants for tens of thousands of years

    • invalidusernamelol [he/him]
      ·
      4 years ago

      Yes, but I don't think humans were using bio-engineering to create crops that die without specific pesticides and hold patented bio-markers that allow for managing IP rights to food sources.

      • thisismyrealname [he/him]
        ·
        4 years ago

        true, but those are just symptoms of genetic engineering under capitalism. same thing with a lot of scientific research, it could have actual social benefits but it's squandered so porky can make more profit

        • invalidusernamelol [he/him]
          ·
          4 years ago

          Agreed, but any defense of genetic engineering that doesn't make those facts incredibly clear is just a smokescreen for that corruption.

    • RealAssHistoryHours [he/him,they/them]
      ·
      edit-2
      4 years ago

      BREEDING PLANTS IS NOT GMO. Genetic modification is a targeted manipulation of the genome. Equating traditional breeding to genetic engineering is honestly one of the most irritating misrepresentations what biotechnology actually does.

      • thisismyrealname [he/him]
        ·
        4 years ago

        by definition, plant breeding is targeted manipulation of the genome, it's just not as precise or direct as modern genetic engineering techniques

        • RealAssHistoryHours [he/him,they/them]
          ·
          4 years ago

          It's not a targeted manipulation of the genome. It's a coincidental recombination and inheritance of parental traits. It's a targeted manipulation of the phenotypes. You could argue with marker assisted selection that we are now manipulating genomes, but that's a relatively recent development. Certainly not one humans have been doing since the dawn of agriculture.