The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved for use in 15 states a new product called Enlist Duo, which is produced by the Dow Chemical Co. It is a herbicide, this one using both glyphosate and 2,4-D. It works like Round-Up Ready does in the sense that it kills even the “super” weeds, while allowing Dow’s GE seeds to grow.
This is all kind of background for the press releases that began to roll in from various environmental organizations and the groups that want to shut down GM food production. They were all “spinning” a finding by the International Agency for Research of Cancer (IARC) that rates 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) as “possibly carcinogenic to humans.”
IARC is a 50-year-old World Health Organization unit for identifying cancer hazards and determining risks. IARC could have gone with the more definitive “probably carcinogenic” or the less-concerning “probably not carcinogenic” rating, but spokesmen said the group went with the “possible” rating because of inadequate or limited evidence. But press releases were all about how both of the main ingredients of Enlist Duo have been “linked to cancer.”
But discrediting genetic engineering by throwing the C-word around without content is not right either. Cotton with edible seeds, golden rice, virus-resistant papaya, and nutrition-enriched cassava are just some of the accomplishments of genetic engineering that have nothing to do with super weeds. Who can say that we are not going to need the work of GE scientists to feed the hungry world of 2050?
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: Letter From the Editor: ‘Super’ Weeds and the C-Word
