> >I don't know if my contribution will cause national ructions
> >or, more likely, sink like a stone into the pond of middle
> >class apathy. We'll see.
>
> Well I will be watching the news websites from NZ with close attention :)
>
> I always felt that the GM food "safety" cannot be proved without several
> generations of people having partaken of it. And if there are these
> advantages in the change of genes in the plants, why have they not been
> "selected" during "evolution"?
>
> Is your current document still on the web? I never perused it.

There are various related papers at www.tinyurl.com/nz4u
The article is most like the "in your face" version but with more facts &
considerably more polished (I'm told by people who have read it). (It's hard
to critique your own material).

By Monday (Sunday?) this website had better have been rehashed to contain
the references for the article, fewer and tidier versions of the original
material and some questions and answers for people who are

1 - scared by the article
2 - Very very annoyed by the article
3 - Wanting to know how much they can depend on what it says.

There will be some people in category 1 as this was the reaction from at
least one test reader.
There will certainly be people in category 2 but they will only want to deny
everything I say.
It's people in 3 that make or break it.

As my current sig line says -
___________________________________________________________
If we have already accidentally created an unexpectedly lethal virus by
single
gene transfer, why should we believe that it might not happen again, once
or on numerous occasions in future, but in less controlled circumstances?

As single gene transfer is the basic building block of GE, how anyone can
suggest it can't happen is incomprehensible to me. Last time mousepox. Next
time .... ?

My desire is to have everybody aware of what MIGHT happen with GE and aware
that we are unable to put accurate figures on the probabilities. Both the
worst cases and our current inability to know with accuracy are well known
to science. If everyone is aware of the true parameters I can leave it to
everyone else to work out what to do about it.
If, with all eyes open, we still decide to proceed as we are doing now, then
well and good. Or as well and good as can be.


        Russell McMahon

--
http://www.piclist.com#nomail Going offline? Don't AutoReply us!
email listserv@mitvma.mit.edu with SET PICList DIGEST in the body