Selective breeding isn't genetic engineering though. GMO is used when genes from a species are inserted into another, not for strains that are produced through artificial selection of organisms with desirable traits.
A traditional method of breeding new plants is to expose them to mutagens and see what happens. The results of these experiments are in the food supply and not labeled as GMOs.
Yes, selective breeding is far less controlled and predictable as to unintended changes; people think of it as safer because of the way it used to be done which operates over longer time scales, which, aside from not actually providing any kind of safety, neglects the fact that modern methods allow selective breeding to operate over much shorter time scales.
I've mentioned elsewhere in the thread that golden rice has yield problems, as do many GMO foods. That's partly because this kind of genetic modification isn't actually all that controlled; one of the side effects is that it disrupts a random selection of completely unrelated genes.
Selective breeding performed slowly over longer time scales did at least give the breeders time to notice some kinds of severe problems. If you're breeding wheat and accidentally introduce a toxic mutation, you might notice the resulting pile of dead horses. There won't be a warning like this in every case, but it's not right to say that there's zero benefit to going slow.
That said, I don't really have an opinion on GMOs. I'm fine with you partaking first, though. :-)
Selective breeding doesn't create fundamentally new organisms like transgenic GMOs, however -- organisms for which there is no method to predict their interactions with our one and only environment (Earth, if that wasn't clear :p).
What you are describing is transgenics, GMO just means that the genetics were modified using gene editing tools rather than breeding techniques the vast majority of GMO food products are not transgenic.
maxerickson|7 years ago
dragonwriter|7 years ago
Yes, selective breeding is far less controlled and predictable as to unintended changes; people think of it as safer because of the way it used to be done which operates over longer time scales, which, aside from not actually providing any kind of safety, neglects the fact that modern methods allow selective breeding to operate over much shorter time scales.
makomk|7 years ago
modbait|7 years ago
That said, I don't really have an opinion on GMOs. I'm fine with you partaking first, though. :-)
oxryly1|7 years ago
dogma1138|7 years ago
nradov|7 years ago