Reply #41: There are many non-GM crops without genetic variation [View All]

[NickB79]

"In any event, every plant grown from GM seed is an exact copy. None of the minute differentiation present that Traditional methods of plant breeding allows.

That alone is Reason enough to ban Genetically Modified Seed."

Seedless grapes are the first that come to mind. They are propagated by rooting cuttings from a parent plant, since the parent plant is incapable of reproduction by seed. Thus, every one of the thousands upon thousands of seedless grape plants grown from that original parent vine are all exact copies of one another. Pineapples, some bananas and some citrus friuts are also produced in this fashion. Apples are another example. All Red Delicious apples, as well as all other commerical apple varieties produced around the world, are genetically identical. Twigs from the original Red Delicious apple tree were grafted onto seedling apple rootstocks, and grafts from those trees taken, and so on and so on. The same is true for virtually every named fruit tree grown today, because most fruit trees don't breed true from seed (the resultant seedlings would be a mixture of good and poor tasting forms). Plums, peaches, pears, cherries, etc, all graft-propagated from a few original parent plants and thus all clones of one another. This practice has been carried out for thousands of years.

Should all these be banned as well? I don't want to cut down my apple trees just yet.