‘Holy grail’ wheat gene discovery could feed our overheated world
Harvests that form a vital element of the diets of 4.5 billion people are being devastated by global heating. Now research has found a key to create a heat-resistant variety
It’s a GMO. Therefore Greenpeace will rip it up because better than 4.5 billion die than Gaia be polluted, right?
Don’t see much devastation here:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/267268/production-of-wheat-worldwide-since-1990/
I’d have thought that Greenpeace’d prefer many more to die than that.
The only ones deserving to live are the Greenpeacers and the slaves necessary to keep them in the manner to which they’d prefer to become accustomed.
Greenpeace mysteriously silent on on GMO when they are in the form of mRNA gene therapy treatments which are mandated on certain members of the public. Strange, eh?
I used to support Golden Rice but now don’t trust the bastards one iota.
But, but… aren’t crop yields increasing significantly ‘despite’ (because?) global wombling?
The slight observable positive change in temperatures is during night time, particularly in Winter, which is good for plant and animal life – wild and farmed – better for Humans too with reduced night time energy need. Daytime temperatures are not noticeably affected.
Plus: increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration has led to greening – new growth or increased growth of vegetation – over the last three decades, of an area the size of the USA and particularly around desert margins thus deserts are shrinking.
This provides more habitat for flora and fauna, fixes top soil and retains water. It could provide more land for food growth and Human habitation.
This is all good news which is why you have to hunt to find it.
Given the positive contribution of CO2 emissions, isn’t this a positive externality and should we not therefore get a tax credit for increasing our ‘carbon footprint’ – perhaps the Pigouvianistas should get onto it?
deserts are shrinking
Next up – Greenpease new campaign Save the Desert
deserts are shrinking
Maybe these are the ecosystems that are being wiped out that the Swedish truant keeps going on about.
If “the world” is in danger of starvation due to “global heating”, why are EU governments deliberately running farmers out of business?
Every single “classic” cultivar humans use for food is a GMO. You should see the wild forms..
Of course, that GMO-ing was done over many centuries, and “doesn’t count”…
I do have to raise my eyebrows at what they’re doing here, though.. The whole point of wheat’s resistance is that you can grow it and it does not cross-germinate with wild grasses ( whose pollen are airborne and can come from miles away..). Maintains your yield and quality. And allows you to re-seed without much worries.
Turning that off… You can guarantee that any variant they make will not have that switch turned back on, so that peeps become wholly dependent on the producer of the feedstock, because that particular variant will happily keep on crossbreeding with all the neighbouring family, making it pretty much a crap crop if you re-seed. The consistency of your crop will be gone in two/three seasons…
Although it is pretty impressive they got so far they could actually make sense of some of the genetics involved. Polyploïdy in plants adds a whole new level of headache to genetics. One I happily missed when deciding to concentrate on the branch of critters who are so polite to only have one library to mess up way back when.
Harvests that form a vital element of the diets of 4.5 billion people are being devastated by global heating.
And yet malnutrition and hunger keep on falling.
Grikath, you have me channeling my inner Himmler. If I was in charge of the project, anyone who failed to make sure the wheat variant could be replanted next year would be shot. Although I’ve no objection to Steve’s lions.
As I understood it food output is falling because of the policies governments have introduced in the name of AGW
– You can guarantee that any variant they make will not have that switch turned back on, so that peeps become wholly dependent on the producer of the feedstock . . .
Rentseeking. Is Bill Gates involved?
PJF, I don’t think so… Unless you play 6 degrees of separation on the grant money, of course.
This is simply “common business practice” as deployed by the big players when they think they can get away with it. See also “resistent” crops that are only resistent when used with Product X, but actually far more sensitive to nasties without that product, handily provided by the sister company of…
Or that push from the EU to only allow Registered Seeds, which registration is only practical for the Big Players, and technically makes it illegal to grow “forgotten breeds” or classic local cultivars.
@Addolff – “mRNA gene therapy treatments which are mandated on certain members of the public”
What are those treatments?
Charles, we know you are taking the piss…………..
Adolff, Greenpeace opposes Golden Rice because it is GMO. Apart from that Golden Rice has not been a smash hit because yields are lower than ordinary rice, thus it will cost more, and the intended consumer won’t buy it.