What is a GMO and is it the same as a hybrid?

[cHeroKee]

What is a GMO and is it the same as a hybrid?

There is an increasing amount of misleading and false information circulating regarding GMO’s (genetically modified organisms) and how they are being confused with hybrids. We’ll try to simplify the differences to make them easier to understand.

What is a GMO and what makes it different from a hybrid?

We’ll start with what makes a hybrid. To create hybrid vegetables, breeders select desirable characteristics from two or more unique parent plants (of the same genus, species or variety) and cross-pollinate them in a controlled environment to create a plant with the best features of the parent plants. Hybrid vegetables have benefits such as disease resistance, higher yields and better uniformity. For instance, hybrid sweet corns may capture more sweetness, longer holding ability, crisper or creamier kernel texture and so forth. Hybrid tomatoes combine parents that may have a certain flavor, larger size or fewer seeds. Seeds saved from hybrids tend to revert to the qualities of the individual parents, so if you replant seed saved from a hybrid, the resulting produce will not be the same as in the previous year. Hybrid vegetables have been available to the garden public for well over 50 years. We would greatly miss popular hybrid varieties such as Early Girl, Celebrity and Big Beef Tomatoes, Jubilee and Xtra Sweet sweet corns, Stonehead cabbage and Bell Boy pepper to name just a few.

Hybrids should not be confused with GMO’s. The description of a GMO is a variety that contains one or more genes from an entirely different species and is genetically altered using molecular genetics such as gene cloning and protein engineering. An example of a GMO is a field crop such as corn that has the pesticide Bt engineered into its genetic makeup to make it resistant to certain pests. Bt is a natural pesticide, but it would never find its way naturally into corn seed. GMO seed varieties will retain their original characteristics if saved and replanted, but because GMO seeds are patented by the companies producing them, intellectual property rights restrict using saved seed the next season.

[iggy]

GMO seed varieties will retain their original characteristics if saved and replanted, but because GMO seeds are patented by the companies producing them, intellectual property rights restrict using saved seed the next season.

GMO fruit & vegetables will either have NO seed or the seeds are sterile.

Here is a link to Rodale News ~http://srch.rodale.com/vignette/rdl/search.jsp?q=gmo&op=Search Pick an article and read.

I have quit buying "on the vine" tomatoes with a 4 digit code starting with 4 or 3. I prefer my tomatoes once the seeds have started to sprout. Only organic tomatoes do this. Organic PLU fruits and vegetables use a five digit code starting with the #9. http://www.rodale.com/genetically-modified-organisms-foods?page=0,1

Just bought some apples at the local Safeway - the code was a four digit. Figured they were just the common grown with man made pesticides, fungisides, chemically made fertilizers, etc. But NOT gmo's. Well these apples didn't have a single seed in them!

I am taking a paring knife with me when I shop, and I am checking for seeds in the fruits and veggies I buy that are not organic.

The last cantelope I got the seeds were sterile. They never sprouted! Same for the Acorn & butternut squash! All had four digit codes.

[acorn]

Lots of good information here:

http://www.nongmoproject.org/

In case anyone is unclear on why GMO is bad, watch this (currently $2.99 to watch, but sometimes sponsors make it available for free for a week or more--definitely worth the 3 bucks, though!):

http://geneticroulettemovie.com/

[OPossumTX]

GMO fruit & vegetables will either have NO seed or the seeds are sterile.

This is patently false! A prime example is GMO soybeans. The licensed GMO seed can be planted and the pollen released by GMO plants will pollinate and contaminate non GMO plants. The seed from these non GMO plants have the I.P. of the GMO seed incorporated into their genetic code. Farmers who have saved their seed for years have been sued for using the resulting bastardized seed. This has resulted in them loosing their entire crops and being sued for theft of the GMO seed's manufacturer's intellectual property. There is no way to prevent this unless the GMO plant is unable to pollinate non GMO plants.

If you work for Monsanto or some other GMO seed supplier, GO SPREAD YOUR LIES SOMEWHERE ELSE! Oh, and GET LOST!

If you are willing to learn what is going on and do a little research, GET AFTER IT.

Hint: You won't find what you need on the seed manufacturers web site or the MSM.

IMO, if the GMO seed manufacturer's IP has escaped their control, they must be liable for any damage it causes. Just as I am if one of my cows escapes and eats a neighbors garden, I am liable. They should not be able to sue the victim of their rogue products.


Here is a link to Rodale News ~http://srch.rodale.com/vignette/rdl/search.jsp?q=gmo&op=Search Pick an article and read.


Here is a link to a "Rodale" article that confirms what I have said above:
http://www.rodale.com/new-gmosSnippet from the ariticle:
*************************
GMO-containing food products—there are no laws requiring it. (GMOs and chemical pesticides are banned in certified-organic food, however.) While taking a spade or tiller to your front yard and replacing non-nourishing turf with healthy organic edibles is a great way to save money and feed your family fresh produce bursting with anti-cancer compounds, two new GMOs down the pike threaten the very queen of home gardens—tomatoes—among other backyard garden favorites.

THE DETAILS: Most genetically engineered crops have been genetically manipulated to withstand heavy sprayings of herbicides, particularly the chemical glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup. The company that sells the GMO seeds also sells the chemical it's designed to withstand. Farmers are prohibited from saving seeds containing these genes, something that could occur through cross-pollination. Researchers are turning up startling health problems associated with Roundup (http://www.rodale.com/roundup).
*************************

Did you even read the Rodale articles you referenced?

As you might infer, I am just a little bit concerned about this subject.


:nopity:
O'

[Ligure]

Whether seeds are sterile or present has nothing to do with whether they are GMO or pesticide ridden. Although some root crops such as garlic and potatoes are often treated with a chemical to prevent sprouting.

In fact the early crop of even healthy tomatoes (organic, heirloom and all) are often seedless. There are some GMO seedless varieties out there but there are hybrid ones as well. GMO does not have the exclusive control over whether a fruit is seedless or sterile or not. There are even hybrids that are sterile.

Also some farmer practices include a spraying a fruiting hormone on the blossoms that causes the plant to fruit out without producing seed. Lack of seed and sterility can also result from poor micronutrition for the plant.

I do not know how useful your paring knife would be in Safeway. I would not even shop there anyway unless they carried affordable organic produce.

Ligure

[mirkwood]

Let us be civil in our disagreements with each other.

[iggy]

This is patently false! A prime example is GMO soybeans. The licensed GMO seed can be planted and the pollen released by GMO plants will pollinate and contaminate non GMO plants. The seed from these non GMO plants have the I.P. of the GMO seed incorporated into their genetic code. Farmers who have saved their seed for years have been sued for using the resulting bastardized seed. This has resulted in them loosing their entire crops and being sued for theft of the GMO seed's manufacturer's intellectual property. There is no way to prevent this unless the GMO plant is unable to pollinate non GMO plants.

If you work for Monsanto or some other GMO seed supplier, GO SPREAD YOUR LIES SOMEWHERE ELSE! Oh, and GET LOST!

If you are willing to learn what is going on and do a little research, GET AFTER IT.

Hint: You won't find what you need on the seed manufacturers web site or the MSM.

IMO, if the GMO seed manufacturer's IP has escaped their control, they must be liable for any damage it causes. Just as I am if one of my cows escapes and eats a neighbors garden, I am liable. They should not be able to sue the victim of their rogue products.



Here is a link to a "Rodale" article that confirms what I have said above:
http://www.rodale.com/new-gmosSnippet from the ariticle:
*************************
GMO-containing food products—there are no laws requiring it. (GMOs and chemical pesticides are banned in certified-organic food, however.) While taking a spade or tiller to your front yard and replacing non-nourishing turf with healthy organic edibles is a great way to save money and feed your family fresh produce bursting with anti-cancer compounds, two new GMOs down the pike threaten the very queen of home gardens—tomatoes—among other backyard garden favorites.

THE DETAILS: Most genetically engineered crops have been genetically manipulated to withstand heavy sprayings of herbicides, particularly the chemical glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup. The company that sells the GMO seeds also sells the chemical it's designed to withstand. Farmers are prohibited from saving seeds containing these genes, something that could occur through cross-pollination. Researchers are turning up startling health problems associated with Roundup (http://www.rodale.com/roundup).
*************************

Did you even read the Rodale articles you referenced?

As you might infer, I am just a little bit concerned about this subject.


:nopity:
O'

Are you directing this post to me?

[CurtisG]

Hopefully it's just worded wrong. I doubt that Possum thinks you are a shill for Monsanto...

[iggy]

Hopefully it's just worded wrong. I doubt that Possum thinks you are a shill for Monsanto...

Then let Possum explain why the uncivilized post.

[Dolcezza]

I remember that Dr Davis spoke a lot of hybrid and GMO as to what happened to wheat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSDkJEF9aBY

In the video about (19" long) he shows how by mixing types of wheat to avoid a dwarf type with high productivity, the genetical structure is also modified.

I can't remember the details but maybe it sheds a bit of light?

Also, on a side note, I noticed that for some funny reason why I buy seed potatoes from a garden centre (UK), the potatoes that grow from them don't sprout at all. So I can't use them to have more potatoes in the future.


Quite annoying! I don't know how they manage to create them but now I pick my seed potatoes from the supermarket!

Dolcezza

[Ligure]

Also, on a side note, I noticed that for some funny reason why I buy seed potatoes from a garden centre (UK), the potatoes that grow from them don't sprout at all. So I can't use them to have more potatoes in the future.


Quite annoying! I don't know how they manage to create them but now I pick my seed potatoes from the supermarket!

Dolcezza

Actually the potato market considers it at least in part a benefit to consumers to treat them with a chemical to prevent sprouting. This is because once the potato sprouts you cannot eat it. Potatoes are in the nitshade family and the green parts are poisonous.

Ligure

[Dolcezza]

Fine, but aren't the supermarket potatoes sprayed also? Plus, I have been eating sprouted potatoes for over 40 years!:l0 (13):

[prairiemom]

This is because once the potato sprouts you cannot eat it. Potatoes are in the nitshade family and the green parts are poisonous.

Ligure

Actually, the sprouted potato is safe to eat if it is still firm. Flavor and nutrition may not be 100%, but it is not dangerous. Now green coloring is a different matter--yes, the green part is not safe, but it can be cut away and the potato is still safe to eat.

[Dolcezza]

That sound smote like it. We just cut off the sprouted part and eat the rest. Green potatoes invariably end up being planted, not eaten.

I am somehow convinced that seed potatoes from gardening shops are intentionally sterile so you keep going back to buy new ones every year.

Dolcezza