Recent comments in /f/todayilearned

A_Generic_White_Guy OP t1_jd1y93k wrote

https://www.usda.gov/topics/biotechnology/biotechnology-glossary

Genetic modification: The production of heritable improvements in plants or animals for specific uses, via either genetic engineering or other more traditional methods. Some countries other than the United States use this term to refer specifically to genetic engineering.

Seems like that's where the difference comes from.

https://www.fda.gov/food/agricultural-biotechnology/types-genetic-modification-methods-crops

These all are considered genetic modification in the US.

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FishAndRiceKeks t1_jd1vcfp wrote

You could buy a full T-rex for only $5M? I thought Nicholas Cage bought the skull of one for more than that. I'm surprised there aren't more rich celebrities with dinosaur skeletons.

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Thiccaca t1_jd1r9u2 wrote

It is amazing how much the Colombian Exchange impacted global diets.

Tomatoes are from the New World. Before that, there were no tomatoes in Europe.

Imagine Italian food without tomatoes. Indian food with no chile peppers. Potatoes alone kept Ireland running for decades. Until they didn't.

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DocPeacock t1_jd1qru2 wrote

GMO are not a recent thing.

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/05/05/404198552/natural-gmo-sweet-potato-genetically-modified-8-000-years-ago

Horizontal gene transfer occurs naturally, probably frequently, and is equivalent to transgenic mutations commonly referred to as GMO.

Bacteria and plants have had an unimaginable amount of time to coevolve. Aliens not required.

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duglarri t1_jd1pjyp wrote

A skin doctor put my then-22-year-old son on Accutaine some years ago. His personality changed from bright and sunny to morbidly suicidal with fits of frantic head-banging despair.

He was only on it for eight months before I had him stop. It nearly killed him.

He has only slowly recovered now, more than a decade later.

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Set_the_Mighty t1_jd1kwcr wrote

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