Re: Genetic modification has been done since a long time ago
Selective breeding and gene manipulation are not the same thing.Errm, It kind of is. My favorite anti-GMO rant was when a person informed me that there are "SIX kinds of grass DNA in corn! Human beings don't eat grass, there should be no grass DNA in corn!"
..Except that corn (and wheat, and rice, and millet, and sugarcane, and...) are grass. When maize was first being cultivated its corns were no bigger than wheat heads, and wheat heads were not much larger than the seed clusters the grass sprouts when you don't mow your lawn.
But by dint of gene manipulation (cross breading, selective breading, culling, etc - Gene manipulation with a machete, vs a scalpel) we have "heritage" varietals of maize that have corns over 10x larger than "nature intended".
Having said that, I am cautious about GMOs. Not because of the crops themselves, but because Monsanto is almost as evil as Nestle - they make 1990's Microsoft look like a non-profit charity for widows and orphans.