- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Friday, March 23, 2007

You are going to do what with genetically modified mosquitoes?


Ummm, help me out here folks – Western GM research companies want to release genetically modified mosquitoes resistant to malaria into sub-Saharan Africa to SAVE poor brown people????????

GM mosquito 'could fight malaria'
A genetically modified (GM) strain of malaria-resistant mosquito has been created that is better able to survive than disease-carrying insects.
It gives new impetus to one strategy for controlling the disease: introduce the GM insects into wild populations in the hope that they will take over. The insect carries a gene that prevents infection by the malaria parasite.

To SAVE brown people from malaria huh??

A million children die from malaria, who would say no to wanting to help poor brown children from death?

Apparently the massive Genetically Modified Industry want to save a million poor brown children every year by releasing into the wild a Genetically Modified living organism.

Ummm.

No. How many billions upon billion upon billion has the GM industry already gobbled up in science research? If we actually cared about poor brown people dying in Sub-Saharan Africa we would pay the $3 Billion annually that Time magazine estimated it would cost to protect the people of Africa from the blight of malaria.

Considering the costs of the nets, medicines and other components of malaria control, a comprehensive program would cost about $4.50 per African at risk, or about $3 billion a year for the whole continent. This is an amount that is too large for Africa but truly tiny for the rich world.
Time Magazine

Oh and before I hear you decry “Where are we supposed to find $3 Billion annually then bomber” – I’d like to point out that Joseph Stiglitz has estimated the actual cost of the war in Iraq is now about $2 Trillion, oh and before my right wing friends decry Joseph Stiglitz, he was the chief economist at the World Bank and won a Nobel Prize for Economics in 2001, the World Bank is not known for its fuzzy wuzzy love of communism. If America is serious about countering Al Qaeda’s recruitment of poverty wrecked Africa, spending a measly $3 Billion from their $2 Trillion is money well spent!

Which brings me back to justifying Genetically Modified living organisms being released into the wild, there are better, cheaper options to deal with malaria that are minus the unknown risk of releasing GM organisms into the wild, a situation where we have no idea what the knock on consequences of that will be and to use the image of 1million dead brown babies to justify this seems a total mockery. The only real reason the GM industry want to test this out in sub-saharan Africa is because we don’t care what happens to these people now (otherwise we would have found the $3 billion to eradicate malaria) and if something does go wrong, no ones going to notice, and please don’t try and tell me the GM industry cares about Africa, they have been actively working hand in hand with USAID to weaken GM laws in Africa since the late 90s….

For instance, USAID funds the African Agricultural Technology Foundation, which is also supported by the Rockerfeller Foundation, OECD, Monsanto, Dow Chemicals, Dupont and Syngenta. Passing of as an 'African initiative' because its headquarters is in Sierra Leone, the role of the AATF is to use poverty and the urgent need for food security strategies in Africa to push for the opening of markets by sharing patents and seeds. However, this initiative is aimed at ensuring the firm control of African research institutions in Africa. Take note also, that because the initial predictions of the GE industry have not materialized, huge amounts of money is now being invested in the so-called 'second generation' of crops. Nigeria based International Institute for Tropical Agriculture and its parent body the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) recently announced its "Harvest Plus Plan" to embark on resources for second-generation GE crops (maize, cassava, and sweet potatoes). The Plan has received a cash injection of $US 100 million. These are only but 2 examples.
African Conservation.Org

6 Comments:

At 23/3/07 8:49 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Just a hunch, but maybe it's something to do with global warming, mosquito environment and hundreds of thousands of Europeans dying from malaria in the not so distant future.

aladin

 
At 23/3/07 10:56 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bomber, understand where you are coming from. But don’t see the point in saving all these Africans. World is over populated and part of evolution some people will have to die. And using Genetically Modified Mosquitoes is only going to carry on misery of these people including giving them 3 Billion dollars.

Majority of the Western civilization don’t care what happens on African Continent but most of them will not publicly admit this. Even though we’ll got people like Bono and lefty friends crying out for more money.

We should just let the Africans sought it out them self’s and within the next couple of decades majority will just die off. But stronger will survive to carry on genetic evolution of the African people.

Advocatus Diaboli

 
At 26/3/07 1:32 am, Blogger Julian Pilbrow said...

I think it's quite a good idea... one step closer to ummm what was that film with harrison ford?- and the replicans? I might start a mosquito collection... the original mosquito will probably be worth megabucks one day!

 
At 26/3/07 12:54 pm, Blogger unaha-closp said...

Dear Conspiracy Theorists,

Who are they?

Here is one research lab that has found a new preventative for malaria. It may well save millions of people. Where is the link between this lab's work and seed companies? Where is the link between malaria and the Iraq war? What has America got to do with it, surely they are only as guilty as every other entity that is spending billions on stuff other than this?

It is an easy comparison of worth between the lives of African (mainly) children and the possibility of something maybe going wrong with the GM. Simple clear cut decision to make. You come out one way or the other based on the risk and reward. But blowing smoke out your arse covering your butt with shake'n'bake conspiracy crap, that says millions need die for no good reason.

 
At 26/3/07 1:51 pm, Blogger Bomber said...

Dear unaha-closp - did you read the blog? If we are as concerned AS WE SHOULD BE about conditions in Africa re Malaria, it could be done for $3Billion, I compare that with the multi-billions spent on GE research and counter-compare that $3 Billion amount with the $2 Trillion America has spent on the Iraq War - what is wrong with that assessment?

 
At 26/3/07 3:37 pm, Blogger unaha-closp said...

It is doubly spurious.

Johns Hopkins University did not spend $billions for this research and it will probably cost less than $3 billion pa to implement. And the EU farm subsidy or Cullens Budget surplus were also not used to combat Malaria is southern Africa.

If the mosquio works safely it could be a low cost alternative, that the world might actually get off its butt and pay for. Or it might be that introducing a mutated super mosquito will trip a switch that leads to enviroment being put out of whack, destroy lives in the tropics.

 

Post a Comment

<< Home