Thursday, March 10, 2011

Swiss researcher shows natural breeding better than GMOs

Posted  by Chris Nova
A Swiss researcher has developed a new apple that is resistant to disease, appealing to the palate, and easy to grow, all without using genetic modification.
According to Natural Newsit took Swiss orchardist and researcher Markus Kobelt twenty years of careful research and development to come up with the new apple variety. The RedLove apple is said to be "sweet, tangy and delicious."
  
For a long time, researchers from other food establishments have been trying to create a GM apple that has more nutrients, that is more resistant to disease and pests, and attractive to growers and consumers. However, Kobelt did it first with his non-GM variety, which he was able to create using natural breeding methods and cross-pollination techniques.
  
Amazingly he didn’t have to use any GM to beat the companies who usually do a lot of gene splicing to make new varieties of crops. This means that the RedLove apple has none of the serious health risks that many GM varieties do. It’s a big win for natural agricultural methods.
  
"These varieties of new apple have been created through non-GE (genetically engineered) techniques which is fantastic," said Claire Bleakley from GE Free NZ in Food and Environment, a non-profit organization working to raise awareness about the dangers of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). "It cannot be logical to spend millions of taxpayers’ dollars and research resources on a red GE apple we know could have dangers to the environment and people health and is simply not acceptable to the market, and already exists as a non-GE variant."
  
The RedLove apple works well if it’s used raw or cooked and it has a distinctively awesome red color. It has much higher levels of antioxidants, and it resists scab disease. And all of these amazing traits were instilled the old fashioned way with no genetic alterations in a Frankenstein lab.
  
Food activists say that the development of the RedLove apple is a strong example of why GMO foods are second-rate and unnecessary. In addition to being dangerous to animals, the environment and humans, GMOs don’t provide any benefits for the agriculture industry over natural varieties. Fruits and vegetables and plants can be naturally bred to have the most desirable characteristics.

Source: http://www.tgdaily.com/general-science-brief/55827-swiss-researcher-shows-natural-breeding-better-than-gmos#H2ifXTe4JA70RPew.99