by Al Gore
536 designed to enhance the survivability of crops during droughts
Fernandez-Cornejo and Caswell, “The First Decade of Genetically Engineered Crops in the United States.” It is worth noting that plant geneticists have also engineered a new variety of rice designed to survive complete submergence in water for more than two weeks; it is now being tested in rice fields in the Philippines that have been hit hard by flooding.
537 report initial reductions in their cost of production
National Research Council, “Impact of Genetically Engineered Crops on Farm Sustainability in the United States,” 2010.
538 strain that is engineered to produce its own insecticide
Ibid.; Calestous Juma, “Agricultural Biotechnology: Benefits, Opportunities and Leadership,” Testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Agriculture, Subcommittee on Rural Development, Research, Biotechnology and Foreign Agriculture, June 23, 2011, http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/files/juma-house-testimony-june-23-2011-rev.pdf.
539 In India the new Bt cotton made the nation a net exporter
Juma, “Agricultural Biotechnology.”
540 have begun to protest the high cost of the GM seeds
Gargi Parsai, “Protests Mark 10th Anniversary of Bt Cotton,” Hindu, March 27, 2012; Zia Haq, “Ministry Blames Bt Cotton for Farmer Suicides,” Hindustan Times, March 26, 2012.
541 that field trials of GM crops “under any garb”
Pallava Bagla, “India Should Be More Wary of GM Crops, Parliamentary Panel Says,” ScienceInsider, August 2012.
542 the intrinsic yields of the crops themselves are not increased at all
National Research Council, “Impact of Genetically Engineered Crops on Farm Sustainability in the United States,” 2010.
543 unexpected collateral changes in the plants’ genetic code
Gurian-Sherman, Failure to Yield.
544 both greater yields and greater resistance to the effects of drought
Personal conversation with author.
545 offer the promise of increased yields during dry periods
Union of Concerned Scientists, “High and Dry,” May 2012, http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/food_and_agriculture/high-and-dry-summary.pdf.
546 tremendous interest in drought-resistant strains, especially for maize
Gurian-Sherman, Failure to Yield; Andrew Pollack, “Drought Resistance Is the Goal, but Methods Differ,” New York Times, October 23, 2008.
547 genes working together in complicated ways
“Why King Corn Wasn’t Ready for the Drought,” Wired, August 9, 2012.
548 “limited at best”
Union of Concerned Scientists, “High and Dry.”
549 introduction of genes that enhance the nutrient value
Fernandez-Cornejo and Caswell, “The First Decade of Genetically Engineered Crops in the United States.”
550 higher protein content in corn (maize) that is used primarily for livestock
Calestous Juma, The New Harvest: Agricultural Innovation in Africa (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011).
551 new strain of rice that produces extra vitamin A
Juma, “Agricultural Biotechnology: Benefits, Opportunities and Leadership.”
552 enhance the resistance of plants to particular fungi and viruses
Pamela C. Ronald and James E. McWilliams, “Genetically Engineered Distortions,” New York Times, May 14, 2010.
553 The third wave of GM crops
Fernandez-Cornejo and Caswell, “The First Decade of Genetically Engineered Crops in the United States.”
554 with high cellulose and lignin
National Research Council, “Impact of Genetically Engineered Crops on Farm Sustainability in the United States”; Fernandez-Cornejo and Caswell, “The First Decade of Genetically Engineered Crops in the United States”; Fuad Hajji, “Engineering Renewable Cellulosic Thermoplastics,” Reviews in Environmental Science and Biotechnology 10, no. 1 (2011): 25–30.
555 in a world with growing population and food consumption
Hajji, “Engineering Renewable Cellulosic Thermoplastics.”
556 because of the unprecedented complexity of the challenge
Matt Ridley, “Getting Crops Ready for a Warmer Tomorrow,” Wall Street Journal, July 6, 2012.
557 temporary reduction in losses to pests
Gurian-Sherman, Failure to Yield; Antoniou, Robinson, and Fagan, “GMO Myths and Truths, Version 1.3.”
558 National Bioeconomy Blueprint
Andrew Pollack, “White House Promotes a Bioeconomy,” New York Times, April 26, 2012.
559 make themselves impervious to the herbicides and insecticides
National Research Council, “Impact of Genetically Engineered Crops on Farm Sustainability in the United States”; Faure and Wibisana, “Liability for Damage Caused by GMOs”; Antoniou, Robinson, and Fagan, “GMO Myths and Truths, Version 1.3.”
560 forcing the mutation of new strains of pests that are highly resistant
Faure and Wibisana, “Liability for Damage Caused by GMOs”; Antoniou, Robinson, and Fagan, “GMO Myths and Truths, Version 1.3.”
561 genetically engineered to survive application of the herbicide
National Research Council, “Impact of Genetically Engineered Crops on Farm Sustainability in the United States.”
562 increases among weeds and insects, the overall use of both herbicides
Antoniou, Robinson, and Fagan, “GMO Myths and Truths, Version 1.3.”
563 though advocates of GM crops dispute their analysis
Council for Biotechnology Information, “Myths & Facts: Plant Biotechnology,” http://www.whybiotech.com/resources/myths_plantbiotech.asp.
564 and more dangerous—herbicides
Antoniou, Robinson, and Fagan, “GMO Myths and Truths, Version 1.3.”
565 $17.5 billion and both insecticides and fungicides representing
Clive Cookson, “Agrochemicals: Innovation Has Slowed Since Golden Age of the 1990s,” Financial Times, October 13, 2011.
566 U.S. Air Force to clear jungles and forest cover during the Vietnam War
“ ‘Agent Orange Corn’ Debate Rages as Dow Seeks Approval of New Genetically Modified Seed,” Huffington Post, April 26, 2012, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/26/enlist-dow-agent-orange-corn_n_1456129.html.
567 “endocrine disruption, reproductive problems, neurotoxicity, and immunosuppression”
Ibid.
568 U.S. farm belt by almost 60 percent over the last decade
Tom Philpott, “Researchers: GM Crops Are Killing Monarch Butterflies, After All,” Mother Jones, March 21, 2012.
569 cropland dedicated to crop varieties engineered to be tolerant of Roundup
Ned Potter, “Are Monarch Butterflies Threatened by Genetically Modified Crops?,” ABC News, July 13, 2011, http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/monarch-butterflies-genetically-modified-gm-crops/story?id=14057436#.UA2kPUQ-KF4; Philpott, “Researchers: GM Crops Are Killing Monarch Butterflies, After All.”
570 harmful impact on at least one subspecies of monarchs
Faure and Wibisana, “Liability for Damage Caused by GMOs.”
571 Although proponents of GM crops have minimized
Potter, “Are Monarch Butterflies Threatened by Genetically Modified Crops?”; Monsanto, “Frequently Asked Questions,” http://www.monsanto.com/hawaii/Pages/faqs-hawaii.aspx.
572 a new group of pesticides known as neonicotinoids
Elizabeth Kolbert, “Silent Hives,” New Yorker, April 20, 2012.
573 since the affliction first appeared in 2006
Ibid.
574 “About one mouthful in three”
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, “Questions and Answers: Colony Collapse Disorder,” December 17, 2010, http://www.ars.usda.gov/News/docs.htm?docid=15572.
575 because the
engineered seeds must be purchased annually by farmers
Science Museum (UK), “Who Benefits from GM?,” http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/antenna/futurefoods/debate/debateGM_CIPbusiness.asp.
576 can introduce genes that do not fit into the seed company’s design
Miriam Jordan, “The Big War Over a Small Fruit,” Wall Street Journal, July 13, 2012.
577 with pollen from citrus varieties that have seeds
Ibid.
578 all of the major commodity crops
Union of Concerned Scientists, “Industrial Agriculture: Features and Policy,” May 17, 2007, http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/science_and_impacts/impacts_industrial_agriculture/industrial-agriculture-features.html.
579 reliance on monocultures makes agriculture highly vulnerable to pests
Ibid.
580 stem rust began attacking wheat fields in Uganda
“Scientists in Kenya Try to Fend Off Disease Threatening World’s Wheat Crop,” PBS NewsHour, December 28, 2011, http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/globalhealth/july-dec11/wheat_12-28.html.
581 Similarly, cassava
Donald G. McNeil Jr., New York Times, “Virus Ravages Cassava Plants in Africa,” June 1, 2010.
582 “The speed is just unprecedented”
Ibid.
583 Ireland’s heavy reliance on a monocultured potato strain from the Andes
Nicholas Wade, “Testing Links Potato Famine to an Origin in the Andes,” New York Times, June 7, 2011.
584 destroyed in 1970 by a new variety of Southern corn leaf blight
Union of Concerned Scientists, “Industrial Agriculture: Features and Policy.”
585 robust global work under way to genetically modify trees
Clive Cookson, “Barking Up the Right GM Tree?,” Financial Times, July 20, 2012.
586 genes from one species into the genome of another
National Research Council, “Emerging Technologies to Benefit Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia,” 2009.
587 synthetic growth hormone in dairy cattle
Carina Storrs, “Hormones in Food: Should You Worry?,” Health.com/Huffington Post, January 19, 2011.
588 elevated levels of IGF and a significantly higher risk of prostate cancer
Ibid.
589 for the labeling of milk with bovine growth hormone
Andrew Martin, “Consumers Won’t Know What They’re Missing,” New York Times, November 11, 2007.
590 has significantly decreased its use
Dan Shapley, “Eli Lilly Buys Monsanto’s Dairy Hormone Business,” Daily Green, August 20, 2008, http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/eat-safe/rbst-hormones-milk-470820; “Safeway Milk Free of Bovine Hormone,” Associated Press, January 21, 2007.
591 into the embryos of dairy cows
Haze Fan and Maxim Duncan, “Cows Churn Out ‘Human Breast Milk,’ ” Reuters, June 16, 2011.
592 at the National Institute of Agribusiness Technology
Robin Yapp, “Scientists Create Cow That Produces ‘Human’ Milk,” Telegraph, June 11, 2011.
593 intended for direct consumption by human beings
Harmon and Pollack, “Battle Brewing Over Labeling of Genetically Modified Food.”
594 a salmon modified with an extra growth hormone gene
Andrew Pollack, “Panel Leans in Favor of Engineered Salmon,” New York Times, September 20, 2010.
595 as fast as a normal salmon
Randy Rieland, “Food, Modified Food,” Smithsonian, June 29, 2012.
596 about the possibility of increased levels of insulin-like growth factor
Storrs, “Hormones in Food: Should You Worry?”
597 changing the species in an unintended way
Pollack, “Panel Leans in Favor of Engineered Salmon”; Bill Chameides, “Genetically Modified Salmon: The Meta-Question,” New Scientist, November 23, 2010.
598 to reduce the amount of phosphorus in their feces
Andrew Pollack, “Move to Market Gene-Altered Pigs in Canada Is Halted,” New York Times, April 4, 2012.
599 They called their creation Enviropigs
University of Guelph, “Enviropig™,” http://www.uoguelph.ca/enviropig/index.shtml.
600 because phosphorus is a source of algae blooms
University of Guelph, “Environmental Benefits,” http://www.uoguelph.ca/enviropig/environmental_benefits.shtml.
601 abandoned their project and euthanized the pigs
Pollack, “Move to Market Gene-Altered Pigs in Canada Is Halted.”
602 because scientists elsewhere engineered an enzyme, phytase
Clive Cookson, “Agrochemicals: Innovation Has Slowed Since Golden Age of the 1990s,” Financial Times, October 13, 2011.
603 which, when added to pig feed
Pollack, “Move to Market Gene-Altered Pigs in Canada Is Halted.”
604 genetically engineer insects, including bollworms
Henry Nicholls, “Swarm Troopers: Mutant Armies Waging War in the Wild,” New Scientist, September 12, 2011.
605 and mosquitoes
Michael Specter, “The Mosquito Solution,” New Yorker, July 9 and 16, 2012, pp. 38–46.
606 species of mosquito that carries dengue fever
Nicholls, “Swarm Troopers.”
607 The larvae, having no access to tetracycline
Andy Coghlan, “Genetically Altered Mosquitoes Thwart Dengue Spreaders,” New Scientist, November 11, 2010; Nicholls, “Swarm Troopers.”
608 proposed the release of large numbers of their mosquitoes
Specter, “The Mosquito Solution.”
609 potentially disruptive effects on the ecosystem
Nicholls, “Swarm Troopers”; Specter, “The Mosquito Solution.”
610 small number of the offspring do in fact survive
Nicholls, “Swarm Troopers”; Specter, “The Mosquito Solution”; Andrew Pollack, “Concerns Are Raised About Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes,” New York Times, October 31, 2011.
611 spread their adaptation to the rest of the mosquito population
Nicholls, “Swarm Troopers”; Specter, “The Mosquito Solution.”
612 “may have profound impacts on the ecology of certain infectious diseases”
Tim Sandle, “Link between Dengue Fever and Climate Change in the US,” Digital Journal, July 7, 2012, http://digitaljournal.com/print/article/328094.
613 Dengue, which now afflicts up to 100 million people each year
World Health Organization, Dengue and Severe Dengue Fact Sheet, January 2012, http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs117/en/.
614 causes thousands of fatalities
Yenni Kwok, “Across Asia, Dengue Fever Cases Reach Record Highs,” Time, September 24, 2010.
615 “breakbone fever”
Gardiner Harris, “As Dengue Fever Sweeps India, a Slow Response Stirs Experts’ Fears,” New York Times, November 6, 2012.
616 the extreme joint pain that is one of its worst symptoms
Margie Mason, “Dengue Fever Outbreak Hits Parts of Asia,” Associated Press, October 26, 2007.
617 Simultaneous outbreaks emerged in Asia, the Americas, and Africa
Suzanne Moore Shepherd, “Dengue,” Medscape Reference, http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/215840-overview.
618 the disease was largely contained until World War II
Ibid.
619 inadvertently spread by people during and after the war
Ibid.; Thomas Fuller, “The War on Dengue Fever,” New York Times, November 3, 2008.
620 In 2012, there were an estimated 37 million cases in India alone
Harris, “As Dengue Fever Sweeps India, a Slow Response Stirs Experts’ Fears.”
621 dengue’s range was still limited to tropical and subtropical regions
Jennifer Kyle and Eva Harris, “Global
Spread and Persistence of Dengue,” Annual Review of Microbiology 62 (2008): 71–92.
622 dengue is likely to spread throughout the Southern United States
Sandle, “Link between Dengue Fever and Climate Change in the US.”
623 including HIV/AIDS
Jim Robbins, “The Ecology of Disease,” New York Times, July 15, 2012. The expansion of livestock farming into areas where wild animals are in close proximity has been implicated in the spreading of diseases from wildlife to domesticated animals and from there to people. The bird flu, for example, evolves in domesticated animals when it spreads from wild animals. HIV/AIDS spread to humans ninety years ago when African hunters killed chimpanzees and sold the meat for human consumption. The extremely deadly Ebola virus, first identified in the border regions of western South Sudan and northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1976, originated in chimpanzees, gorillas, monkeys, forest antelope, and fruit bats.
624 brought into close proximity with livestock
Ibid.
625 60 percent of the new infectious diseases
Sonia Shah, “The Spread of New Diseases: The Climate Connection,” Yale Environment 360, October 15, 2009.
626 that outnumber the cells of our bodies
Robert Stein, “Finally, a Map of All the Microbes on Your Body,” NPR, June 13, 2012, http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/06/13/154913334/finally-a-map-of-all-the-microbes-on-your-body.
627 with approximately 100 trillion microbes
Carl Zimmer, “Tending the Body’s Microbial Garden,” New York Times, June 19, 2012.
628 3 million nonhuman genes
“Microbes Maketh Man,” Economist, April 21, 2012, http://www.economist.com/node/21560559.
629 published the genetic sequencing of this community of bacteria
Human Microbiome Project Consortium, “A Framework for Human Microbiome Research,” Nature, June 14, 2012.
630 much like blood types—that exist in all races and ethnicities
Robert T. Gonzalez, “10 Ways the Human Microbiome Project Could Change the Future of Science and Medicine,” io9, June 25, 2012, http://io9.com/5920874/10-ways-the-human-microbiome-project-could-change-the-future-of-science-and-medicine.
631 All told, the team identified eight million
Rosie Mestel, “Microbe Census Maps Out Human Body’s Bacteria, Viruses, Other Bugs,” Los Angeles Times, August 13, 2012.
