controlling the seeds is not some abstraction whoever provides the world seeds controls the world's food supply arlington steel vanity fair. for the first time corporations are patenting products that are self replicating uncontrollable and irretrievable. genetically engineered pollen carried by wind insects bacteria viruses and humans

has inadvertently traveled the globe. scientists in laboratories and corporate spokespeople would have americans believe that pollen from flowering plants in the open environment can be controlled farmers hay fever sufferers and anyone who observes the chaotic natural world would disagree tonight a look into the world of genetically modified organisms through the lens of new mexico's iconic chili peppers. at the plant genetic engineering laboratory on the campus of new mexico state university in los crucis scientists are developing a genetically engineered chili pepper. genetically engineering the new mexico chili pepper has stirred controversy because it is a cultural heirloom and defines new mexican cuisine this is what he mexico is known for and this is what makes us unique i mean this is this is threatening this is

very threatening to our stars there are. well i mean this is the seeds are sacred some of these traditional chili lines they've been bred and developed and passed down from generations here in new mexico or where we interface with nature we interface with traditional culture or we have a different experience and a lot of it is reverence all of the social and economic and marketing ramifications impacts on the environment impacts on potential use of herbicides. impacts on the on farmers in the southern part of the state the organic farmers as well as farmers in the northern part of the state i think all those questions should be investigated before we embark on spending a lot of money developing this plant new mexican cuisine from internationally recognized restaurants to the lowliest taco truck is defined by chile the only important question one needs to ask is red ripe in chile or the green unripened

variety it is the state's idaho potato it is new mexicans wisconsin cheese originally developed in the rio grande valley the distinctive peppers applied liberally to new mexican burgers pizza salad fudge bagels french tarts. and even beer. but as a result of the north american free trade act and heightened border security new mexico's chili pepper harvest has been cut by two thirds half of the jobs in the industry have disappeared the labor shortage and other production problems are suffered almost exclusively by large industrial farming operations in the southern half of the state the commercial producers than here have said that they've had to leave fields fallow they simply haven't been able to find a hand labor to harvest them in the last couple of years in contrast during the same period organic farmers and traditional landry's farmers have enjoyed chili

price increases. in the face of overwhelming evidence of pollen drift gene flow and crop migration persistent safety questions and never double weed resistance charges of cultural imperialism predatory practices of biotech corporations and increasing popular resistance to genetically modified organisms worldwide new mexico prepares its genetically engineered chile. in two thousand and seven state legislators signed a memorial calling for protection against genetic contamination of native seeds shortly thereafter legislators awarded m.m.s. you one million dollars aimed at research including developing a genetically engineered chili pepper it with a slap in the face to learn that our state had sponsored the genetic engineering of chu that after the year previous they had supporter supported the farmer's rights

to keep their seeds. on contaminated by genetic engineering the genetically engineered chili enemas she was developing would reduce reliance on labor at least in the short term by was standing application of the herbicide glyphosate which is in products like been santo's round up and syngenta has touched down i q is. our intent is really to provide a benefit to the chili producers and if we can give them a crop that allows them to far more sustainably. allows on the farm more productively or predictably and that's our goal the phrases benefiting the farmer and feeding the hungry are used to justify increased input costs in pesticides and machinery to the detriment of agro ecological approaches but since those phrases came into vogue the u.s. farm population has been decimated today there are more prisoners in the us than

farmers worldwide more than one billion people are chronically hungry largely due. food price increases the genetically modified organism as that term as it's currently used really refers to organisms created through genetic engineering and most often it means introducing genes that are not within. the species pool the bacteria shoots genes into the plants the plant grows a big tumor that makes this really weird compound that only agger bacterium can eat and the sag bacterium sets up its own little food factory so this natural disease is really the basis for a lot of genetic engineering we do today. people figured out that this process happened. they learned how to take the disease causing genes out of the transferred d.n.a. and learned how to replace them with genes of interest so we still use agro bacterium

we put the genes we want in agro bacterium delivers the d.n.a. into the plant cells where the plant cells go ahead and use. and what's the difference between engineering and the natural disease is we've taken the disease causing genes out and replaced them with genes that were interested in the genetically engineered chili is being made through a process called systemic six where researchers isolate and then reintroduce a gene from the same species though at first seemingly less controversial the process still involves foreign bacteria antibiotics test tubes and has no guarantee of placing the gene or its promoter anywhere near its original place in the d.n.a. chain let's say you want to create a corn planted that produces its own pesticide you take a gene for bacteria that produces a natural talks and call bt from bacillus the range and says you take that gene you

put a promoter which is an odd switch a stop signal which says stop reading the gene ends here you make a gene called structured you make millions of copies you load a good literally i'd shoot those millions of genes into a plate of billions of cells hoping that some of those genes will make their way into the d.n.a. of some of those cells there saying farmers have been doing this for thousands of years farmers haven't crossed species for thousands of years but systemise is the same species. so there's this there is this thing farmers have not been but putting bacteria in the cotton for thousands of the year they never put bacteria in the cotton. or bacteria in the corn. it's not possible. that genetic manipulation whether or not the genetically engineered chili is a g.m.o. is a distinction that could cost the new mexico farmers access to many foreign export markets the e.u. is. much more comfortable with crops generated through

a systemic approach dr hansen and the dean at the enemy su school of agriculture as you see in the c. mail are trying to say that there chili will not be considered a g.m.o. in the european union and other countries that ban or curtail their use they make this argument despite laws that clearly say the systemic approach like the one and then misuse using is in fact creating a genetically modified organism. doctors sarah laney from the university of conn in france has helped shape european policy towards genetically modified organisms called a european union and hundred fifty countries around the world the definition of goods here no is not a matter where the gene comes from it's a matter of gene being modified vitro in its you know the backbone of the origin of the gene what is clear is that more than one hundred countries around the world may

require all chile from new mexico to be tested for genetic engineering or even bar imports from u.s. farmers out right this burgeoning resistance to genetically modified organisms results as much from anger at government and industry economic practices as from the real or imagined health threats of genetically modified products. as that this two thousand and eight investigative report by donald barlett and james steele for vanity fair reveals monsanto goes after farmers farmers co-ops seed dealers anyone it suspects may have infringed its patents of genetically modified seeds as interviews and reams of court documents reveal to relies on a shadowy army of private investigators and agents in the american heartland to strike fear into farm country they fanned out into fields and farm towns where they secretly videotaping photograph farmers store owners and co-ops infiltrate

community meetings and gather information from informants about farming activities farmers say that month santow agents pretend to be surveyors others confront farmers on their land and try to pressure them to sign papers giving monsanto access to their private records farmers call them the seed police and use such words as fish dapo and mafia to describe their tactics. the international assessment of agricultural knowledge science and technology for development titled agriculture at a crossroads is a six hundred page a global report issued by the world bank the united nations and the walled health organization it is the most comprehensive inclusive agricultural study ever completed that directly addresses and recommend solutions to world hunger you know i think i've kind of had

a lifelong appreciation of the population growth versus food production regardless of dr hansen spro fest concerns for world hunger he was unaware of the most comprehensive analysis of agricultural science ever undertaken to address hunger. emission free to critique a should free in-store charge is free the arrangements three. three stooges free. to hold free broadcast quality video for your media projects and free media and on to our teton tom. wealthy british style site it's time to.

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to the molecular level what the doctor ordered. secrets. on a kid in the world. to build a. mission to teach music. a cd that was just put out by the world. the report is that best indifferent to genetic engineering and at times openly hostile this hostility comes despite the report having been initiated by monsanto syngenta and the world bank for your

study but out of. a discussion with the world a. large producers about transgenders they produce the six other states that haven't had that oh. well it will be partly because there's really not that much it ok that discusses genetically modified organisms as publication of the document with its pointed criticism of genetically modified crops true near multinational biotech giants monsanto and syngenta withdrew their support for it first supporting the a t.d. and then abandoning it when biotechnology was not surely did monsanto and syngenta drew a rebuke from the industry friendly journal nature when we asked dr hansen for research supporting his positions on safety crop yield and migration he provided a two thousand and five compendium that sided studies completed as long as

a decade ago none were current no independent long term feeding studies no evidence of sustained yield gain it would say well you know it's more popular bull for the farmers and what the one thing i want people these days what's he have a higher yield to kill of chili you know with genetically chili but if you look at the studies that have been done that's really not true as the multinational corporations profit and small farmers disappear not a single genetically modified crops has been marketed for increased yield drought tolerance salt resistance or enhanced nutrition the proponents of genetic engineering have misled the public about its benefits and deliberately so. and it hasn't lived really lived up to its promise and they haven't increased yields they they haven't decreased pesticide use they haven't solved any hunger problems whatsoever. and so i don't even understand how people with

a straight face can defend genetic engineering transgenic crops you know there's several examples that have been in their field and both the u.s. and abroad and they've you know demonstrated. they've been able to maintain your old increase returns to farmers. as noted in the world bank report a relatively small number of huge farming operations have increased land holdings and benefited financially. there has not been any yield improvement due to genetically engineered. crops and that's my understanding but it really hasn't solved any major problems it's just my profits monsanto's far as i can tell month is perhaps a deserved whipping boy but it should be noted that other biotechnology corporations who farmers and that m.m.s. you will likely hold the patent rights to the genetically engineered chili seed.

when asked who will breed the chili seed or who will sell it and then miss you could not provide an answer when asked if farmers would have to buy the genetically engineered chili seed for every planting rather than save it and a mess you could not provide an answer one of my main concerns with that with the genetic engineers engineer chiles cvs especially is that it is becoming more and more difficult to find pure seeds you know sees that are that are that are not content not genetically engineered and certain well certain brides. canola and soybeans i mean it's almost impossible not to find on g.m.o. so beans and canola and what is happening is that the u.s. see company is actually going to other countries you know that the do not have the highest events of genetically engineered cops to grow does the non g.e. see other galaxies for those types of those types of costs a small number of biotech chemical companies including monsanto and syngenta have

benefited enormously one company now owns one fourth of the world seed suppliers and patent rights on over eighty percent of the g.m. soy and cord seeds sold in the united states. they think that genetically engineered crops are going to feed the world it's going to end and world hunger those are the very same things that we made about the green revolution forty years ago. in fact patenting g.m.o. seeds has allowed for a culture of secrecy around research that threatens the transparency of public programs and reduces access to genetic resources. so very big profits all over the well to how the patents on food because you need to eat each country before you're even communicating or having any army or anything else in the world to how to write these as soon as somebody you know

well so it's a real one are genetically modified crops are still confined to a handful of countries with highly industrialized export oriented agricultural sectors. nearly ninety percent of the area planted to g.m. crops in two thousand and seven was found in just six countries. one country alone the united states plants over fifty percent of the world's g.m. crops they are boats for sea around the well that make sixty percent of the market which are all so yeah my ease rice and wheat. they are already. so young my ease that makes eighty percent of the gym most today if they put their hands. wee rides and a couple of others. inside she which is important to your country then they have

the right to say who knows what and who say this was wrong well. patenting severely limits independent research information sharing among land grant institutions and farmers ability to save seeds it drives up prices dramatically and encourages monocultures that are susceptible to disease in medically engineering is one tool in the toolkit of an industrial food model that moves us toward centralization. and so that's one of the reasons i object to this we need to be moving towards decentralization the food system and more diverse food production. the united nations world bank report estimates that canola farmers in canada and corn farmers in the united states lose a combined six hundred million dollars a year to european g.m.o. free markets conventional farmers may find some markets close to them because their

chili is genetically engineered but i think it may ruin all the markets for their advantage growers also the north american free trade act would force and i'm su to share its technology with america's competitors if they develop this chip this connection to their choice seed they don't have to go to mexico they can take the seed and go to mexico mexico peru or china or wherever else and so it's not going to benefit the new the new mexico farmers it whatever technology they can adopt or competitors can adopt so i'm not sure how this is going to solve their problems. resistance to chemically intensive genetically modified foods is increasing worldwide including bans labeling requirements and companies advertising their foods as g.m.o. free. consumer demand for g.m.o. products fifteen years after their introduction is still virtually nonexistent my

particular view is that the industrial model of agriculture is not long for this world that we we can't continue going down this road because it's too energy intensive it destroys biodiversity not only while by oliver city but also cultivated biodiversity and it concentrates too much power in the hands of too few companies most of the farmers that i. was getting methods to try to utilize small thoughts and if you were to develop genetically engineer children you would be much their chances are much more amenable to sort of back the farming for farming happens in mexico and south america now in chile and other location so i think we need to do better child care of small farmers mexico what's happened over the years as each new

technology has been developed farmers have had to adopt that technology in order to reduce costs and increase eels so that they can still make money in the more of course the more they increase yields the more production goes up which reduces prices which makes it more imperative for them to reduce reduce costs and increase yields so it's a treadmill they can't get off they have to adopt all these technologies and they have to go into debt to buy all these technologies we can give them a crop that allows them to far more sustainable way the overriding principle of my research program is to in. sustainability of production allowed surely growers to maintain high yields do so in a sustainable manner so they can continue that in the future fine for me sustainability. sustainability means being able to maintain production in the future so your glasses it is that car which will say we can do everything about we will eventually that's what i heard you say. there are natural

selection will encourage development it's how do you call it your life is a sewage system. that's a great question people. people often say oh you're still putting your chemical. sustainability the way we produce our food now is. highly reliant on machines and chemicals and glyphosate resistance is one trait. that can greatly increase sustainability now when you use the glyphosate resistant crop you're still spring in herbicide in the field you're still spring life to say but what you're not doing is spraying the other herbicides that you used to do life to say it replaces the other herbicides.

initially blatche is a tolerant g.m.o. crops did enable a decrease in herbicide use but is weed resistance grows farmers poor ever morgue life is eight and predictably return to traditional herbicides like paraquat di quat and actress jean herbicides are using the now if you're going to select and that's if we. manage their use appropriately and get as much as we can out of them and see whether it's glyphosate on engineered crops or any other herbicide on a conventional crop. life is a tolerant crops have increased pesticide use by three hundred eighty three million pounds forty six percent of the total increase occurred in the years two thousand and seven and two thousand and eight. i'm not aware of pesticide use going on johnson grass is an extremely damaging perennial and considered one of the worst weeds in the world. life is a resistant johnson grass is nearly impossible to control it's already in new

mexico it's one way to look at transfer of resistance into chile as the necessary step in this constant battle that we have to do against pests that's that's based on a particular paradigm in a particular worldview that we're kind of out war with insects and we and. that's a totally different paradigm than the paradigm of an era ecological prochoice in which we understand natural systems in the way in which they interact and so we practice various kinds of management strategies to. to manage pests and weeds knowing that will never eliminate them completely but keeping them managed at a level that we can still make a living without having to pour lots of chemicals on the planet herbicide resistance and a naturally occurring weed population is particularly significant because it could threaten the sustainable use of glyphosate resistant crop technology from the

proceedings of the national academy of sciences december two thousand and nine. in two thousand and eight g.e. crops required over twenty six percent more pounds of pesticides per acre than acres planted to conventional varieties. and i can generic this kind of a distraction i think and it's misleading i think we need to look at research that's going to reduce application of synthetic chemicals so developing resistance to application of a chemical i think is the last thing we should be doing really honestly. download the official publication so choose your language stream quality and enjoy your favorite. if you are away from your. television just doesn't matter how would your mobile device you can watch artsy anytime anywhere.

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latest news in the week's top stories the brutal killing of a soldier in london by alleged muslim extremist leaves the u.k. really amid a sharp rise in anti muslim hate crimes as security services come under under fierce scrutiny. sweden is shaken by eight straight nights of unprecedented youth rioting sparked by the police killing of an elderly immigrant. and. millions take just treats across the world to protest against biotech giant monsanto is the company's accused of promoting a hazardous products and monopolizing food markets. six am.