Monsanto lobbyist won't drink weed killer after claiming it's safe to drink

[Sting]

Personally, I'm against broad-based patents that would allow someone to patent all modification of a naturally occurring gene, but being able to patent the exact new gene that's created seems to make pretty good sense. If a company comes up with a specific modification that produces a novel trait, that seems like a prime candidate for patenting.

The problem with patenting the genes is that they aren't new genes. They're bred into the crop by breeding a resistant species found in the wild with one of their own breeds. This sounds rather easy, but to get these new breeds up to the quality of the old one (think bigger fruits, faster growth, w/e) can be quite a challenge, as ideally you'll want to find that one plant who kept 99.99% of the positive qualities of your own breed but also has the resistancy.

Finding this one plant is quite a task as it involves you basically breeding the plants over and over again and having them checked automatically. We're talking hundreds of thousands of plants here, and that's just the initial stage of selection. Once you get a few that show resistancy you then have to field trial them for their rate of growth, how they look, how the fruit or w/e looks, how big said fruit is, etc. etc. etc. That's pretty expensive.

Let's say you finally find the plant you're looking for after spending literally millions on it, why should somebody else just be able to buy a package of your seeds that they can then use to breed further?

It's ridiculous to patent genes on their own, but having a patent on a breed of plant you've spent a fortune on to create should be possible.

[Jester Joe]

Sure you can, it's called coleslaw.

Coleslaw literally looks gross.

[Kulanae]

Coleslaw literally looks gross.

Good thing it tastes delicious!

[blackblade]

Personally, I'm against broad-based patents that would allow someone to patent all modification of a naturally occurring gene, but being able to patent the exact new gene that's created seems to make pretty good sense. If a company comes up with a specific modification that produces a novel trait, that seems like a prime candidate for patenting.

Patents in general are in a strong need of a hard looking at.

[derpkitteh]

Coleslaw literally looks gross.

it does look gross, but i have to admit it smells good. never had the stomach to taste it though, i can't handle the texture of stuff like that.

[Kulanae]

Everybody likes KFC coleslaw. It's really sweet.......way sweeter than I like, but it's not bad.

[IntellectuallyChallenged]

I couldn't care less if he wanted to drink the weed killer or not. What's interesting is that he is a former member of Greenpeace. They were not impressed with his agenda. Turns out he's a hypocritical liar that can't be trusted. Which really isn't shocking. It just makes him human.

[MerinPally]

Everybody likes KFC coleslaw. It's really sweet.......way sweeter than I like, but it's not bad.

Surely if you're going to recommend food you'd recommend the actual food over some mass produced crap?

You'd never recommend a McDonalds Fish whatever over salmon from a restaurant or even something as simple as one of those restaurants that is essentially posh fish and chips, or sushi/sashimi, or maybe just taking a bite out of the side of a fish that's still flopping.

[Kulanae]

Surely if you're going to recommend food you'd recommend the actual food over some mass produced crap?

You'd never recommend a McDonalds Fish whatever over salmon from a restaurant or even something as simple as one of those restaurants that is essentially posh fish and chips, or sushi/sashimi, or maybe just taking a bite out of the side of a fish that's still flopping.

It's coleslaw dude.....not fine dinning at a 5 star restaurant. For a first time try eating it......I would recommend KFC because it is chopped finer and is sweet. Especially when the person says it is about texture.