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Here’s one way GMOs aren’t beating evolution

Here’s one way GMOs aren’t beating evolution

By on May 24, 2016Share

There’s a smart piece in Nature about the limitations of genetic engineering in creating more efficient crops. It’s the story of old methods trumping the new. Whether it’s radio, vinyl records, or books, we see over and over again that older technologies fill a vital role in the modern world. Likewise, plant breeders working with traditional techniques “are overtaking agricultural-biotechnology companies that have invested years of work in tests with GM crops,” writes Natasha Gilbert.

Gilbert is focused on the breeding of nutrient-efficient crops — plants that can thrive with less fertilizer. In this competition, genetic engineers are squaring off against evolution and losing. There’s already an evolutionary incentive for plants to be efficient. If one plant survives in poor soil where others cannot, that plant will be more successful at spreading its DNA. So, for millions of years, evolution has already been working on the same task. Often the solutions are already out there. It’s just a matter of finding the right traits in the wild or in the plant’s genome.

Certain kinds of genetic engineering, especially small-scale gene editing, can still be useful in breeding nutrient-efficient crops. But GMOs are much more likely to be useful in areas where evolution hasn’t already been able to tackle the problem, like moving disease resistance between banana varieties that no longer reproduce sexually and therefore can’t exchange genes.

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Here’s one way GMOs aren’t beating evolution

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Green Your Cleaning Routine With These Awesome Tips

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Green Your Cleaning Routine With These Awesome Tips

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England Just Established "Yes Means Yes" Guidelines for Police Investigating Rape

Mother Jones

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Police departments in both England and Wales have been provided an unprecedented new set of recommendations when it comes to investigating rape allegations. The guidelines, launched by the Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders and Martin Hewitt of the Metropolitan Police, now require officers to establish sexual consent, rather than prove when a victim says “no.”

“This is really about making sure investigators and prosecutors look at the whole context, so we’re able to put strong cases before the court and we don’t just focus on what a victim did or said,” Saunders told the BBC. “We know there are too many myths and stereotypes around rape and consent and this is about making sure we really examine cases.”

The shift to a more “yes means yes” context comes as a welcome move for sexual assault advocates, who have long blamed the “no” standard for discouraging victims to report assaults. The new guidelines also strongly emphasize the need to stop blaming rape victims “for confusing the idea of consent, by drinking or dressing provocatively” as Saunders states, and clearly outline what sexual consent is.

While many in England and Wales are applauding the change, some have been more cautious, waiting to see if police forces actually adhere to the new guidelines.

“The CPS’s new rape toolkit might make welcome headlines, but I won’t be celebrating until police officers and prosecutors are made to put existing policies and guidelines in practice or face appropriate sanction for failing to do so,” Harriet Wistrich wrote in a Guardian column on Thursday.

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England Just Established "Yes Means Yes" Guidelines for Police Investigating Rape

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