Tomato modification - a good or bad thing

[packman]

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It seems as if the majority on DU is against genetic (GMO type) interference . However , what about this?

"–Given the opportunity to drink fifty bottles of wine or eat one tomato, which would you choose?
–Scientists at the John Innes Centre have found a way to produce industrial quantities of useful natural compounds efficiently, by growing them in tomatoes.
–The compounds are phenylpropanoids like Resveratrol, the compound found in wine which has been reported to extend lifespan in animal studies, and Genistein, the compound found in soybean which has been suggested to play a role in prevention of steroid-hormone related cancers, particularly breast cancer."

So here's a potential game changer- compounds which can extend lifespan and prevent breast cancer. Are you for or against it?

http://extragoodshit.phlap.net/index.php/scientists-produce-beneficial-natural-compounds-in-tomato/#more-323464

[KamaAina]

1. Depends.

How long do I have to drink the fifty bottles of wine?

[packman]

3. That's funny - depends on if it's a good bordeaux

or a gallon of Thunderbird - Jesus, what memories.

[Agnosticsherbet]

2. I like tomatoes, but I am not against GMO.

The percentage of scientists who have no problems with GMO is about the same as those who accept that Global Warming/Climate Change is caused by humans.

I accept that the consensus of science. I follow reports so that if that consensus changes, I can reevaluate my position.

I am very much in favor of improving human health.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

4. If these tomatoes are marked as GMO and they don't fuck up other crops, then fine.

[Xithras]

5. I don't think the majority of DUers are against GMO

The majority of DUers simply support GMO labeling so that people can choose for themselves whether or not they want to consume or support GMO products. Don't confuse the two concepts. There's a huge difference between opposing something and simply wanting to be informed about it.

I have no problem with scientists making cancer killing tomatoes, but there'd sure as hell better be a label on them telling me what they've done to it.

[hunter]

6. I've got no problem with GMO pharmaceuticals.

But GMO industrial agriculture is bullshit, much like soda pop or bottled water.

It probably won't kill you, but there's nothing good about it.

It's all about big corporations controlling markets.

[trackfan]

7. Can they modify them so that they actually taste like tomatoes again?

The ones from the store taste like water.

[underpants]

8. And they have no nutritious value

But I still buy them - my daughter likes "tomatoes" on her lunch sandwich.

[trackfan]

10. My wife's the same way.

She admits they have no flavor, but still wants them on her sandwich or in a salad, just as a kind of psychological place-filler.

[KamaAina]

11. Believe it or not, this is even true in California

where you see them growing by the side of the highway on your way up to Sac. Seems they grow a variety that trades off flavor for shelf life. Fortunately, people do grow them in their yards and bring them into work from time to time in the summer.

[Kip Humphrey]

14. Rule of thumb: tomatoes that bounce aren't real tomatoes. We stick with heirlooms.

[Wellstone ruled]

9. Tomato that has no real taste and

we found they do poor Salads. We raise our own from seed we get from the Heirloom seed bank.

[Glassunion]

12. We currently do it with modified Escherichia coli (E. coli)

It was modified to produce human insulin in a pure form that is less likely to cause allergic reactions.

Old way = Kill a pig or a cow, harvest their pancreas and purify insulin from that. $$$, time consuming, and could cause allergic reactions.

New Way = Bacteria are grown in large vessel, fermented, filtered off and broken open to release insulin, product is purified and bottled. Cost is negligible, quick, and very unlikely to cause reactions.

I'm still waiting for the modified Unicorn that farts Febreze, and pisses beer.

[IDemo]

15. The cost to produce it may be negligible

But the price at the pharmacy has skyrocketed in recent years.

[Glassunion]

18. That would be a whole new OP in and of itself.

I avoid rattlesnake areas... I can't afford the Rx costs.


Of course that's nothing compared to that one Florida boy who had a $1.6 million dollar Rx bill for his rattlesnake treatment.

So of that Rx cost, you have 1% for R&D and Manufacturing, 2% for Clinical Trials, 27% for Licensing, FDA fees, Regulatory and Legal costs, Hospital Profit, and the remaining 70% is the Hospital Markup.

[brooklynite]

13. Definitely the wine...

[Dorian Gray]

16. Mmmm... Tomacco!

[Glassunion]

19. Thread Win!!! +1

[denverbill]

17. Are you for or against growers selling tomatoes like this without labeling them as such?

Yes some studies have shown Resveratrol to be beneficial in extending lifespan, but do we really know for sure what the actual impact of enormous quantities of resveratrol might have both on humans and the environment?

If someone wants to grow these and market them specifically due to them being genetically modified to give megadoses of resveratrol, feel free. Just don't stick them on the shelves with the organic tomatoes and tell me they are 'all natural'. Label them for what they are.

Maybe some day, I choose to consume them. For now, no thanks.