Thread by @kebyes

Clearing up #GMO controversies in #Ethiopia
Very long thread
@Tseday @metishewyilma @BirukitawitA @RNesrudin @nigigebi @hilina_belete @MehretDebebeMD @MollaHabesha @IamFilmona @MeklitBerihun @Tatek64650578 @shegerfm @dw_amharic @Wazemaradio @Million_Belay

I was writing a rebuttal to Dr Grum’s article “The Case for GMOs” @Ethiobserver . But I have to break my silence as some people, out of their utter ignorance, are relentlessly making ad hominem attacks on #GMO opponents. #Ethiopia

You can search “@kebyes GMO” so that you will learn how enthusiastic I am about the issue. Unlike others who are bashing every opinion/evidence, I like to ask questions first. That is how you learn. So please ask before resorting to attacks, PEOPLE. #Ethiopia

So this is a very long thread! Bear with me!
What is #GMO?
GMO stands for Genetically Modified/Engineered (GE) Organisms.
#Ethiopia

GE has been mainly used to create crops “adapted” to abiotic (environmental) stress, “resistant” to pathogens (disease), with a “longer” shelf life, or with “enhanced” nutritional properties. #Ethiopia #GMO

Agricultural genetically modified (GM) crops are dominated by plants engineered to tolerate application of an herbicide and/ or to produce their own insecticides. #Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate

Approximately 80% of GM crops have been modified to tolerate application of and thus accumulate #glyphosate -based herbicide residues without dying in order to facilitate weed management. #Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate

So with all these interesting benefits, why do we all worry about it? Why didn’t the controversy settled?
One of the main reasons for this persistent confusion/controversy is that biotechnologists and geneticists did receive very little information about GE.
#Ethiopia #GMO

They usually learn its history and gene modification. But the history and its techniques do not contain the full pictures of GMOs. The health, environmental, economic, political aspects like use of pesticides, resistance bugs, impact of glyphosate on health, declining insect...

population approval processes, companies’ pressures and corruptions, seed transaction, seed sovereignty and etc are completely lacking in their classroom lectures. The students are highly brainwashed to believe that GMO is a silver bullet for the “ever increasing population”.

When some of them did their homework and started questioning the status quo, they will be attacked and labeled as quacks right away. Most of the experts are still, innocently and blindly, pushing the technology. When resisted they become emotional. #Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate

So let us go to the main controversial arguments
#GMOs are not “SUBSTANTIALLY EQUIVALENT” with its conventional counterparts as claimed by proponents
#Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate

The set of parameters and analyses necessary to declare a GMO as SUBSTANTIALLY EQUIVALENT to its conventional counterpart is still vague and focuses on a restricted set of compositional variables, such as the amounts of protein, carbohydrate, vitamins and minerals. #Ethiopia

GMOs are then declared/APPROVED SUBSTANTIALLY EQUIVALENT when sufficient similarities appear for those selected variables. #Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate

However comparative omics (transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, epigenomics and mirnomics) studies have been performed comparing GMO crops and their conventional counterpart. #Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate

These studies have shown that GMO crops have metabolic disturbances from potential unintended effects of the GM transformation process in Bt maize, Bt soybean, glyphosate-tolerant soybean and cotton.
An multi-omics study reveals metabolism disturbances
nature.com/articles/srep3…

The most pronounced differences between GMO crops and its conventional counterpart is that GMOs contains an increased chemicals present in CADAVER/CORPS/አስከሬን which disqualifies the claims “SUBSTANTIAL EQUIVALENCE”. #Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate

Sadly, no regulatory authority in Ethiopia as well as in Africa requires mandatory omics comparison analysis to be performed between GMOs and its conventional counterpart to help the decision making processes. #Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate

Researchers only do field trials and check differences in productivity, carbohydrate and protein contents, disease resistance, drought tolerance. #Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate

If you look deep in to the field trials, you will know that disease resistance and drought tolerance characters are recorded with subjective scores which are highly biased. Plus natural disease and drought should occur during the field trials. #Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate

If disease and drought didn’t happen, the crops will be labeled as drought tolerant and disease resistant.
ከሰሞኑ #ኢትዮጵያ የሰው ዘራሽ የዘረመል ምህንድስናን በበቆሎና በእንሰት ምርቶች ላይ ልታስፋፋ ነው በሚል መረጃዎች እየወጡ ነው፡፡”

https://twitter.com/shegerfm/status/1255405985625243650

#GE is no different from TRADITIONA/NATURAL breeding
Traditional or Natural breeding occurs between identical species. EX: Human to human; teff to teff; snake to snake.
#Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate

GE violates this natural reproduction law and transfers genes from one species/genus/family/kingdom to another species/genus/family/kingdom. For example GE is like inserting a gene from crocodile in to a human being to add a needed character of a crocodile to the human #Ethiopia

It turned out it doesn’t work most of the time.
Exogenous plant MIR168a specifically targets mammalian LDLRAP1: evidence of cross-kingdom regulation by microRNA – Nature
#Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate
nature.com/cr/journal/v22…

In GE, genes fired/bombarded million times to the recipient gene with gene gun. We have now a new gene editing technology called #CRISPR which is well known with resulting multiple unintended mutations in the host organism. This is unnatural and with consequences. #Ethiopia

Unexpected mutations after CRISPR–Cas9 editing in vivo – Nature article
#Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate
nature.com/nmeth/journal/…

#Pesticide use
As Dr Grum did it in his article @Ethiobserver, genetic experts failed to inform the public about the herbicide use of GMO agriculture. They simply parrot GMO agriculture reduce the use of herbicide. But the reality could not be further from the truth. #Ethiopia

We have seen exponential herbicide use growth in GMO agricultural fields. UN confirmed that use of herbicides didn’t bring about the intended agricultural productivity benefits.
UN experts denounce 'myth' pesticides are necessary to feed the world
theguardian.com/environment/20…

The worst aspect of the GMO herbicide use is that most if not all agricultural GMO crops are made to be #ROUNDUP ready or #Glyphosate resistant. This means that all life forms except the GMO crop will die up on the touch of glyphosate herbicide. #Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate

And we eat this glyphosate laced crop. Eating glyphosate sprayed crops have shown to cause multiple health problems. Glyphosate is labeled as carcinogenic by WHO IARC.
#Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate
IARC Monograph on Glyphosate
iarc.fr/featured-news/…

85% of Tampons Contain Monsanto's 'Cancer Causing' Glyphosate
#Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate @jegnit
ecowatch.com/do-tampons-con…

So once ingested, we will be exposed to health problems such as cancer, organ failure, autoimmune problems, etc. Anyone pushing a GMO and/or glyphosate should first drink a “harmless” glyphosate
#Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate

Multiomics reveal non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in rats following chronic exposure to an ultra-low dose of Roundup [glyphosate] herbicide - Nature
#Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate
nature.com/articles/srep3…

Carcinogenicity of tetrachlorvinphos, parathion, malathion, diazinon, and #glyphosate
#Ethiopia #GMO #Lancet
thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/…

#Glyphosate use increased
Farmers have been using the weed killer glyphosate – a key ingredient of the product Roundup – at soaring levels even as glyphosate has become increasingly less effective and as health concerns and lawsuits mount.
#Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate

Nationwide, the use of glyphosate on crops increased from 13.9 million pounds in 1992 to 287 million pounds in 2016, according to estimates by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Controversial pesticide use sees dramatic increase across the Midwest
#Ethiopia
investigatemidwest.org/2019/05/26/con…

“Since 1974 in the U.S., over 1.6 billion kilograms of glyphosate active ingredient have been applied, or 19 % of estimated global use of glyphosate (8.6 billion kilograms).
#Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate

Globally, glyphosate use has risen almost 15-fold since so-called “Roundup Ready,” genetically engineered glyphosate-tolerant crops were introduced in 1996.”
Trends in glyphosate herbicide use in the United States and globally
#Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate
enveurope.springeropen.com/articles/10.11…

#Terminator seeds
GMO producers patented the GM seeds and made the GM seeds terminator seeds. This means the natural reproduction cycle or the perpetuity of a seed/life is disabled.
#Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate

The GE technology essentially shuts off the reproductive abilities of seeds, making second generation seeds sterile. This makes the GMO producers’ a sole and continuous supplier of GM seeds and the farmers become dependent on the companies.
#Ethiopia
theguardian.com/sustainable-bu…

Here is another unspoken bitter reality. If a farmer used GMO seed this year and wanted to change it by the conventional seed by next year, the farmer will be prohibited by law to exercise this basic right.
#Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate

The other bitter truth with regard to seed sovereignty is that a farmer cannot keep/store his own seeds. The farmers cannot also exchange conventional seeds with other farmers. They are allowed only to get seed supplier companies.
#Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate

To realize these arrangements, the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation instituted a project across universities, agricultural research institutions and development institutions in #Ethiopia. The project is called Integrated Seed Sector Development (ISSD). #GMO #glyphosate

ISSD have been working relentlessly to design a system of “seed registration”, “seed certification”, “seed exchange”, etc. Once this system is realized, the farmers lose their seed sovereignty right. The experts don’t question this. If one questions this, s/he will be fired.

Others are just happy with their project per diem and top up money.
#Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate

#Resistant Bugs
Field-Evolved Resistance in Corn Earworm to Cry Proteins Expressed by Transgenic Sweet Corn
#Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate
journals.plos.org/plosone/articl…

New Research Shows Failings of GMO Insect Resistance, Corn Crop in Jeopardy
#Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate
huffingtonpost.com/carey-gillam/n…

Bollworm Outsmarting Bt Cotton Trait
#Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate
dtnpf.com/agriculture/we…

#bee colony collapse DW
የንቦች ለአደጋ መጋለጥ (DW Ethiopia report)
#Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate
dw.com/am/%E1%8B%A8%E…

A Sharp Spike in Honeybee Deaths Deepens a Worrisome Trend
#Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate
nytimes.com/2015/05/14/us/…

More Bad Buzz For Bees: Record Number Of Honeybee Colonies Died Last Winter
#Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate
npr.org/sections/thesa…

So now rather than fixing the root cause of bees’ mass death, the so called “scientists” came up with this crap
#Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate
Robotic bees could pollinate plants in case of insect apocalypse - The Guardian
theguardian.com/environment/20…

#Corruption and Revolving doors
Multinational corporations like #Monsanto are well capable of lobbying and manipulating experts and policy makers
#Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate

The ‘‘Revolving Door’’ between Regulatory Agencies and Industry: A Problem That Requires Reconceptualizing Objectivity – Research Article
#Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate
research.ncsu.edu/ges/files/2017…

Monsanto Emails Raise Issue of Influencing Research on Roundup Weed Killer – The New York Times
#Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate
nytimes.com/2017/08/01/bus…

How Monsanto manipulates journalists and academics – The Guardian
#Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

#Lawsuits
Monsanto ordered to pay $289m as jury rules weedkiller caused man's cancer -The Guardian
#Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate
theguardian.com/business/2018/…

#lawsuits
French court finds Monsanto guilty of poisoning farmer -The Guardian
#Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate
theguardian.com/business/2019/…

A #contraceptive gene in #GMO GMO Maize #Epicyte - #Depopulation ?
#Ethiopia #glyphosate
GM corn set to stop man spreading his seed – The Guardian
theguardian.com/science/2001/s…

#Europe is opting out
Majority of EU nations seek opt-out from growing GM crops
#Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate
reuters.com/article/us-eu-…

#Europe is opting out from #GMO
#Ethiopia #glyphosate
Over Half of E.U. Countries Are Opting Out of GMOs - Time
time.com/4060476/eu-gmo…

#Africa is opting out from #GMO
#Tanzanian Tanzanian farmers are facing heavy prison sentences if they continue their traditional seed exchange
#Ethiopia #glyphosate
mo.be/en/analysis/ta…

#Africa is opting out from #GMO
#Burkina Faso abandons GM Bt cotton
#Ethiopia #glyphosate
dw.com/en/burkina-fas…

#Labeling GE products – this is a really big debating issues
If a product contains #GMO , shouldn’t the product put “Genetically Engineered” in the label? We all have the right to know about what we bought, right?
#Ethiopia #glyphosate

But it is not that easy to make #GMO producers let us know whether the product contains GE or not. It is not realized because #Monsanto is too big to fail.
Many polls have shown that an overwhelming majority of American consumers favor mandatory labeling of foods made with GE

Genetically engineered ingredients, but many large food companies lobbied heavily to block mandatory labeling and said it would be expensive, unnecessary and confusing to consumers.
#Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate

P.S. Last but not least I encourage you all to listen the chat between @shegerfm |s @meazabirru and Loret Dr Melaku Worede (a father of @MelakuTedla ) #ThankYou
shegerfm.com/2013-05-09-11-…
#Ethiopia #GMO #glyphosate

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