Thousands of children could die after court backs campaign group over GM crop in Philippines, scientists warn

Scientists have warned that a court decision to block the growing of the genetically modified (GM) crop Golden Rice in the Philippines could have catastrophic consequences. Tens of thousands of children could die in the wake of the ruling, they argue.

The Philippines had become the first country – in 2021 – to approve the commercial cultivation of Golden Rice, which was developed to combat vitamin A deficiency, a major cause of disability and death among children in many parts of the world.

But campaigns by Greenpeace and local farmers last month persuaded the country’s court of appeal to overturn that approval and to revoke this. The groups had argued that Golden Rice had not been shown to be safe and the claim was backed by the court, a decision that was hailed as “a monumental win” by Greenpeace.

Many scientists, however, say there is no evidence that Golden Rice is in any way dangerous. More to the point, they argue that it is a lifesaver.

  • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    The anti-science crowd ranks up another victory.

    They have pretty successful killing nuclear power, secularism, vaccines, modern birth procedures, nitrogen fixation, and now GMOs. I guess AI is next.

      • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        Lot of rage at something that is apparently a fad that will go away on its own and yet somehow will take all our jobs.

        • Jax@sh.itjust.works
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          6 months ago

          I can point to all the ways AI has made my life worse. Google (and YouTube) has gotten worse, any forum where art is posted (that includes lemmy) has gotten worse, and I’ve had to establish a safeword with my mom because of AI scammers.

          So, sincerely, pull your head out of your ass. Thank you.

          • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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            6 months ago

            YouTube recommendations have sucked for years, your own fault for using Google, art hasn’t made sense since a can of soup counted as it, and your mom shouldn’t be answering calls. Period. What the fuck just text like a normal person.

            So sincerely please stop being a luddit,

    • redisdead@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Ah yes, being unwilling to surrender our food supply to massive, dubious corporations with a long track record of shitty behavior is being ‘anti-science’.

    • Lutra@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      The implication is: that by it’s nature -All Science Is Good® All science is cool. Is neat. But not all good. There a many genies, we suffer from that we can not put back in the bottle. Some of us ‘Science for a living’, and still don’t think ‘All Science Is Good’.

        • Lutra@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          In my language this statement :

          The anti-science crowd wins again

          Says that science (good) is being defeated by the anti-science crowd (bad). From there it follows, if people are against this product of science, then they are against science.

          Therefore, all science must be good. And all people against ANY product of science are therefore ‘anti-science’