Dox47 wrote:
I'm going to drop this here largely because of who published it, I was pretty shocked to see it there:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/lefties-p ... skepticismQuote:
n Dec. 31, 2019, the first case of the coronavirus was recorded, a global pandemic was en route and emerging biotechnology would be our salvation—so long as we embraced it.
The following day, anti-biotechnology activists saw their biggest American legislative win go into effect: federal labeling for genetically modified organisms, or GMOs.
Those rules, pushed forward by political progressives, were supposedly the answer to health concerns stoked by a health disinformation campaign, amplified by the media and seized upon by opportunistic lawmakers pandering to populist fears about “frankenfoods” in the name of “freedom of choice.” Sound familiar?
Weeks later, Moderna had developed a coronavirus vaccine prototype via a new method: mRNA (the “m” stands for “messenger”), a previously untried approach. Trials began in February, the same month that Oxford announced they, too, had a vaccine in the works with AstraZeneca, with that one using a genetically modified virus.
Where emerging biotechnologies have often been treated as harbingers of a looming dystopia, these radical new scientific innovations now looked like humanity’s best hopes of reaching a better tomorrow—the popular forces that stoked fears of biotechnology would now have to assuage them. Biotechnophobia would quickly become politically incorrect, leading to a swift change in tone by some.
At the risk of triggering a different debate I have no desire to engage in, sometimes people overplay an issue because it gives them something actionable to put their energy into and a "cause" to help them feel unified. I feel like the Republicans are playing with quite a few of those right now (like CRT), but I've also tended to feel that parts of the GMO concerns are similar. Some GMOs logically seem worthy of concern, some don't; they aren't all the same, yet they tend to be treated the same politically. At least that's how it seems to me given the limited investment I've given to the question (I do try to buy organic for certain items as a way to avoid food modified to withstand weed and bug killer). So ... I do think the tension the article mentions is real. It may well force some people to have to parse and stretch their understanding of certain issues, for better or for worse. Still, its going to sit on a scale for people: fear of catching or spreading a deadly and/or debilitating disease, or fear of frankenscience.
Am I correct to understand the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines more as gene programming than insertion of trans-genetic traits? I believe its fairly distinct science from what Monsanto does with RoundUp, but I'm sitting on incomplete memories here.
Weird side note: if I had completed college with the intentions I had my senior year of high school, I well may have ended up a chemist at a place like Monsanto. Wonder how that would have changed my thoughts and positions?
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Mom to an amazing young adult AS son, plus an also amazing non-AS daughter. Most likely part of the "Broader Autism Phenotype" (some traits).
24 Aug 2021, 7:08 pm
