Dark Day For Science

[progressoid]

Cross posted in Science

THE DECISION by the Philippines’ Supreme Court to uphold the ban on GMO Bt talong (eggplant) field trials is a huge disappointment to the scientific community and others pursuing the dream of sustainable and progressive agriculture in this country.

...

The competence of the Court to adjudicate on matters of law is not in question. However, its judgment that the science on the question of Bt talong and GMOs in general is not settled appears highly skewed and very dependent on biased assessments submitted by Greenpeace and other groups with an overt antiscience agenda.

...

The ruling seems particularly bizarre given the shoddy evidence Greenpeace submitted in its original petition against Bt talong. Most of Greenpeace’s evidence was never published in scientific journals. Instead, it was commissioned and paid for by Greenpeace to serve its ideological battle against modern biotechnology.

In particular, a Greenpeace-funded study by a French anti-GMO academic, Giles-Eric Seralini, was a central component of evidence submitted to the Supreme Court. This asserted that Bt talong was unsafe for human and animal consumption, in contradiction to hundreds of high-quality safety studies conducted by reputable scientists internationally over the years, and an overall GMO safety consensus that is highly robust and supported by every major scientific academy in the world, including the NAST in the Philippines.

It is possible that the Court did not take into account that Seralini has been comprehensively discredited since his Greenpeace-funded report was written in 2009. In 2012 the same Seralini published a paper claiming to show that GMO maize caused cancer in rats. However, the methodology of his study was later judged by scientific reviewers to be unsound, and his paper was retracted by the journal that published it—a highly unusual move and fatally damaging to Seralini’s credibility as a scientist.

Read more: http://opinion.inquirer.net/91175/dark-day-for-science#ixzz3ubtOj6N4
Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook

Eggplant Growers' Pest Problem

Eggplant farmers suffer significant yield losses at 51-73% annually due to the Eggplant Fruit and Shoot Borer (FSB).6 Female moths deposit eggs mostly on eggplant leaves. When the eggs hatch and turn into larvae (Figure 2), they feed on leaf tissues and tunnel inside shoots and fruits (Figure 3).



Figure 2. FSB larvae
Photo: Rao, 2010

To address this problem, many eggplant farmers in major eggplant producing areas in the Philippines and Bangladesh spray chemical insecticides every other day, or up to 80 times per growing season.7,9 The practice is unacceptable and unhealthy to consumers, farmers, and the environment. It is also a common practice in the Philippines to dip unharvested eggplant fruits in a mix of chemicals to ensure marketability of fruits.7 In India, farmers spray insecticides 20-40 times per crop cycle or else they will have no harvest.8
Bt Technology for Eggplant

Fruit damage in non-Bt vs Bt line selectionFruit damage in non-Bt vs Bt line selection

Figure 3. Non-Bt eggplant

Figure 4. Bt Eggplant
Photo: UPLB IPB Bt Eggplant Project, 2014

Bt stands for Bacillus thuringiensis, a common soil bacterium that contains a gene which produces a protein harmful to FSB. Scientists have incorporated this gene to eggplant to confer insect resistance.

https://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/pocketk/48/default.asp

[skepticscott]

1. But, but...it's been PROVEN

that GMO crops don't reduce pesticide use..right??