Everyone and I mean everyone needs to go here now. This is corruption at its worst, and it is time to stop it now!!! I am not only angry I am livid. These people have NO right to endanger the food supply of the world. Talk to farmers now while you still can. Save seed, Save seed!!!! And Pray that this stuff does not escape and kill your seed too.

http://www.financialexpress.com/fe20010811/commo15.html

Little Bit Farm

-- Little Bit Farm (littleBit@compworldnet.com), September 07, 2001

Answers

Yipee. Did you know that the USDA also was instrumental and financially involved in the development of this technology? I read that at least two years ago. No wonder they licensed it, huh? It's gonna get hungry.

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), September 07, 2001.

Looks like it's time for all of us to start living like Luther Burbank.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), September 08, 2001.

Isn't corn a grass? And doesn't pollen drift on the wind? It seems to me that the future viability of ALL grass seed could be in grave danger from this!

-- daffodyllady (daffodyllady@yahoo.com), September 08, 2001.

"Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her." revelations 18:8

-- anonymous (anonymous@anon.net), September 09, 2001.

anonymous seems to have summed it up well.

Thanks for the article, lil bit.

-- Wendy@GraceAcres (wjl7@hotmail.com), September 09, 2001.

OR, how bout' this?? Contraceptive Corn.

GM corn set to stop man spreading his seed

Special report: GM crops debate

Robin McKie, science editor Sunday September 9, 2001 The Observer

Scientists have created the ultimate GM crop: contraceptive corn. Waiving fields of maize may one day save the world from overpopulation. The pregnancy prevention plants are the handiwork of the San Diego biotechnology company Epicyte, where researchers have discovered a rare class of human antibodies that attack sperm.

By isolating the genes that regulate the manufacture of these antibodies, and by putting them in corn plants, the company has created tiny horticultural factories that make contraceptives.

'We have a hothouse filled with corn plants that make anti-sperm antibodies,' said Epicyte president Mitch Hein.

'We have also created corn plants that make antibodies against the herpes virus, so we should be able to make a plant-based jelly that not only prevents pregnancy but also blocks the spread of sexual disease.'

Contraceptive corn is based on research on the rare condition, immune infertility, in which a woman makes antibodies that attack sperm.

'Essentially, the antibodies are attracted to surface receptors on the sperm,' said Hein. 'They latch on and make each sperm so heavy it cannot move forward. It just shakes about as if it was doing the lambada.'

Normally, biologists use bacteria to grow human proteins. However, Epicyte decided to use corn because plants have cellular structures that are much more like those of humans, making them easier to manipulate.

The company, which says it will not grow the maize near other crops, says it plans to launch clinical trials of the corn in a few months.

-- Wendy@GraceAcres (wjl7@hotmail.com), September 09, 2001.

Wendy, this could solve the question of where are the little children in the Tribulation? There just might not be any!

-- daffodyllady (daffodyllady@yahoo.com), September 10, 2001.

Does this affect all mammals, or just humans? Again...it's gonna get hungry, folks.

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), September 10, 2001.

I don't get it. Apart from the assertions that it "be bad". Whats so wrong about sterile seeds? And, by the way, sterility, like abstinance, is not hereditary.

-- charles (clb@dixienet.com), September 12, 2001.

The assertions are that it will cross pollinate and cause the seeds of even weeds to fail to reproduce. Like with hybrids, sometimes it will reproduce, sometimes no...rarely truly.

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), September 12, 2001.

The reason seed companies like sterile seeds is because it leaves the farmers/gardeners totally dependent for their seed supply on the the seed companies. They can't grow their own and get independent of the suppliers, and thus save some money. Also, all the viable open- pollinated varieties could disappear. I think I read about one place (can't remember where it was) where it's already illegal to save your own seed. It's not a good scenario.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), September 15, 2001.

Oh, the place where it's illegal to save your own seed wasn't in this country, I think it was probably in Europe but it's been a while since I read about it.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), September 15, 2001.

Charles,

The problem with these seeds are that they can cross polinate with open pollenated seed and possibly wipe out all available seed.

It keeps those who bought the seed under the control of the seed companies.

-- Stephanie Nosacek (possumliving@go.com), September 19, 2001.

I didn't see where it said what plant species the terminator technology would be used on. I don't think we have to worry about corn pollen contaminating wheat and pinto bean seeds for example. And we don't have to worry about potatoes at all! It looks to me as though corn as a species is about to become extinct, andif you want to have any corn at all, you'd better grow it in cages, or miles away from other corn, or grow a variety that is all one setting seed before the other corn in your area tassels. Grow a variety that will show up contamination visually, for example popcorn or blue corn. Unlike may other crops, you can detect cross pollination right away in corn because the seeds will be different colors, shapes, etc. That's why you don't grow both popcorn and sweet corn in the same garden.

The contraceptive corn is far scarier. It doesn't say whether or not the effect is permanent. If so, you'd think there would be huge and numerous lawsuits, and that the corn would have to be labeled, and ingested with full knowledge of it's effects. Sadly, the way they've been handling GMO's doesn't give much hope for that. Maybe it's time for us all to boycott all corn and if millions of us were to do that it might make some kind of an impact? I certainly don't want my animals eating contraceptive corn!

Hey, Jump Off Joe, they found a way to reduce the popluation without killing anybody and probably whether we want to have kids or not! Aren't you thrilled?

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), September 20, 2001.

I understand the perceived fear of "terminator" seed. Its just that, biologically, there is zero chance that the pollen from such plants could extinguish or seriously harm other plant populations.

First, there are tremendous barriers to interspecific pollination: receptivity of the stigma, lack of chemical cues for pollen to germinate, chemicals that suppress pollen germination, style length/pollen tube length, time of flowering, differing pollination vectors, on and on. Alto there are tremendous barriers to successful sexual reproduction even if pollination is achievable. Meiosis cannot proceed in fertilized ovules that have very distinct sets of chromosomes from very distinct parents and seed cannot be produced. Otherwise, we would'nt have distinct species (ca. 360K flowering plant species). So, there should be no fear about extinction of even weeds. Ditto for cultivated plants that are not very very closely related to those species for which terminator seeds have been developed.

Second, if a plant is not an out-crossing plant, that is, one that shares with and receives pollen from other plants then obviously it could never receive a terminator gene from pollen produced by a terminator seed plant.

3rd. Within a given cultivated species there are great barriers to cross pollination. People who grown varieties of corn know this. So if you are growing cow corn in a field adjacent to a field of terminator sweet corn (just examples) there may be no interfertility at all.

4th, and most important, sterility is absolutely self-limiting. Each and every ovule in the ovary of a flowering plant requires the fertilization by a sperm cell that came from a pollen grain. Viable seed will not be produced by the union of an egg cell with sperm from a terminator plant pollen. That is the trait for sterily cannot be passed on to next season's offspring. Only those seed produced without the involvement of non-terminator plants can "have children".

-- charles (clb@dixienet.com), September 25, 2001.

Yeah? Tell this poor sap that: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/0330-02.htm

You can preach all you want that genetically modified crops are safe for the environment, but unfortunately the facts do not support your case. How do you supposed this poor farmer got genetically modified plants in his Canola field? I know, telekenisis, or perhaps a transporter from Star trek. What happens when a corn plant spreads it's pollen far and wide? What do you think the resulting seed from these plants is liable to have terminator genes in it? What happens when those plants inbreed with others the next year? You say well that is impossible because the plants will not produce seed if they have terminator genes. Have you ever heard of Cystic Fibrosis? It is a disease that reproduces on a recessive gene. We have no idea what will happen when this stuff mixes with natural occuring genetic material. We have no idea and we are messing with the very foundations of life itself. This stuff is in the hands of the same people who brought us Thalidomide and DDT. Here are some lovely web sites for those little gems: http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts35.html http://www.thalidomide.ca/wit.html

Thank you very much, but I would just as soon leave the fate of the world's plant life in the hands of God where it belongs. Instead we have our government jumping into bed with Monsanto, and actually earning money from the destruction of foods sources in America, and for what? So a bunch of selfish money grubbing jerks can prevent man from having access to what God has provided each of us free? I think Not!!! As far as I am concerned I think that it should be completely illegal to patent varieties of any plant! Plants are a gift from GOD! There is no one that has the right to tell another man whether he can use the plants on his property. The fact that laws have been made with regard to this is why we are headed down this road to self destruction.

Little bit farm

-- Little bit farm (littleBit@compworldnet.com), September 25, 2001.

Yeah, what she said.

I think we think we are just too terrifically smart, although the evidence of our actions seems to indicate the inverse to be more truthful.

-- (bisquit@here.com), September 25, 2001.

The farmer got genetically modified canola in his nonGMO field via pollination with neighboring GMO canola, for which I think he might have a "damages" case against either the neighbors that planted the GMO crops or against the company that distributed the seed in his area or against the company that produced the seed.

The subject, however, was terminator seed (not GMOs in general) and what was bad about it, whether it presents a danger to other species, other cultivars, even weeds. One may not like the concept or reality of terminator seed, and as others have suggested there may be negative social consequences to the broad use or dependency on terminator seed cultivars. But I've yet to see any biological nor specifically ecological underpinnings to the fear of terminator seed plants.

There a plenty of bad things that are done in the name of "progress" and I have no doubt that terminator seed technology was not developed to support the remnant of small farms or the lifestyle of small farm families. But termintor seed will not effect the ozone layer, increase rates of illegitimacy, cause Wal-Mart to expand, or threaten God's dominion. To may way of thinking its better to attack something for its real, substantiated faults.

-- charles (clb@dixienet.com), September 25, 2001.

this is no other thing but conspiracy against all life and people on this planet

www.freewebs.com/totalsoccer

-- dasdasd wewe (grudnicki@poczta.fm), December 19, 2003.