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Emile comments on Should I be afraid of GMOs? - Less Wrong Discussion

10 Post author: Pavitra 19 May 2011 01:29AM

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Comment author: Emile 19 May 2011 03:42:47PM 5 points [-]

Nope, but the risk of unexpected side effects may be smaller than many ordinary risks we take with what we eat. I wouldn't be surprised if some rare exotic plants like Rooibos had been studied less than GM rice or wheat.

I have an aversion towards "but we can never be sure" or "but there's always a risk" arguments ... Those can be used on nearly any topic and are useless until you try to figure out how much risk, which requires actual effort.

Comment author: MartinB 19 May 2011 08:01:06PM 3 points [-]

Yes of course. I do not like that line either.

There are other cases where food rapidly got widely used without enough examination of the long term effects. Look up the introduction of industrial sugar. That seems to be a real problem.