Question
No one on the pro GMO side has ever answered this question. When you use biocides to kill all life around an organism that you are trying to nurture the plants own immune system is never needed seeing there is little life left to attack the plant. That very immune response produces in the plant natural chemicals that make the plant in the end more healthier for us to eat. Aren't we missing out on the inherent health benefits of the plant by doing this job for the plant. Not to mention the pollution that biocides cause. Lots of these biocides end up in the ocean causing all sorts of harm there. I don't believe big ag cares about this and I believe they are blinded by greed or they simply don't care. If you are all so pro-science you would care about the damage your products cause.
Submitted by: murray_1337
Answer
Expert response from Dr. Ray McAllister
Senior Director, Regulatory Policy, CropLife America
Tuesday, 14/01/2014 17:03
Plants do not have immune systems like those of animals, which produce antibodies and destroy disease pathogens in response to infection. Among animals, specific blood cells "remember" how to produce those same antibodies the next time the same disease attacks.
Some plants have evolved the ability to produce protective, naturally occurring chemicals continuously or in response to environmental stresses, including attacks by insect pests and disease pathogens. The ability of a plant to defend itself from pest attack does not make it healthier for humans to eat. In fact, many of the naturally occurring chemicals produced by plants are toxic to humans as well. One example is psoralens, a group of substances that is naturally produced in celery and can result in a toxic dermal reaction.1 Another example is a class of compounds called glycoalkaloids, which occur naturally in potatoes and can lead to acute intoxication or more serious outcomes when ingested by humans.2
Some crops, such as almonds, have been made suitable for human consumption through breeding to eliminate toxicity. When production of toxic chemicals is bred out of a crop variety to make it safe to eat, the plant may lose the ability to adequately protect itself and thus needs other crop protection strategies. Through integrated pest management practices, including the responsible application of crop protection products, crops suffer less stress from pest and disease attack and produce fewer toxic chemicals. Crop protection products, such as herbicides or insecticides, are designed to be so specific in action and in use that they do not negatively impact nontarget organisms.
The environmental fate of agricultural chemicals is a key consideration in the development of new plant protection products. Crop protection products undergo a thorough risk assessment prior to being approved for use by the Environmental Protection Agency and then are periodically reviewed on a cyclical basis. This process ensures that residues of products do not pose unreasonable risks to the environment or wildlife, whether in bodies of water (including streams, lakes and oceans) or elsewhere. This is a condition of approval for use. Detection of trace amounts is monitored through multiple reporting systems and compared to predicted amounts. Residues of currently used pesticides are not typically found in ocean environments.
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