rBST

[Mantaray]

rBST, as we know, is an artificial growth hormone used in American dairy farms to supposedly increase milk production. Those farmers are stupid, because rBST does much more than just make more milk. Cows are more prone to sicknesses, especially since no one feeds them grass anymore. It makes humans at high risk to various health problems such as cancer(s) and puberty. Now they're asking kids to "drink more milk." WELL GUESS WHAT!

Yay for other countries that banned this fake crap, but what about America and its stupidity for allowing it back in 1993? Really, why?

[edit--there be no delete option on some of these old posts.. i reeally wanna delete this one x3 so embarrassing

[EverPhoenix]

is this the whole GM argument? because it has its pros and cons.

i mean sure it sounds great on paper, more milk production (in this case), medicinal uber-potatoes, glow-in-the-dark monkeys, etc... im not even kidding about glowing monkeys, they are out there.

the main flaw in GM foods/products is the way they implant them. in this case, they would have probably found some mad growth gene, used one of several methods to append it to the genetic structure of something, and then used the hormones to feed the cows.

but the way i see it (well, the way my bio teacher explained it a few years ago), this doesnt always go as planned. the gene might be rejected and cause serious health issues in the concerned animals, it could mutate or something, and if a viral vector was used, the virus itself could decide that the cells of the host organism are a nice place to live.

also like in this case, if it works well, things could still get complicated. the growth hormone might end up being transferred to the humans - which is why the problems of cancer and early puberty would arise - and the cows would experience the same problems.



this comes down to pretty much my argument on GMing something. if its tested and doesnt have nasty side-effects, then im all for it. otherwise, i dont think it should be done due to the health risk.

and as for testing, do it on those who want to put it out there

for the specific case mentioned here, if its been proven that the hormone ends up in the milk and affects humans (as it seems it has), then ban it.

[Jason Tandro]

Growth hormones are the LAST thing you should be worried about when you visit the "farm fresh" section of your local supermarket. Thank god we've stopped using DDT, that stuff was insane. And then of course, there is good old fashioned Mad Cow Disease.