Bayer’s modified soil microbes may set off a genetically engineered doomsday for agriculture. Is that what Bayer desires?

Should you don’t just like the poisonous air pollution from industrial agriculture’s artificial nitrogen fertilizers and pesticides, Bayer and its partner Ginkgo Bioworks have an answer for you:

They are saying they’re going to swap out a number of the previous fossil-fuel-based agrochemicals for genetically engineered microbes.

We’re no fan of pesticides and artificial fertilizers, however let’s not bounce from the frying pan into the hearth! The uncontrolled unfold of genetically engineered microbes may contaminate soil on such an enormous scale that it could possibly be the top of farming!

You don’t need to take our phrase for it, simply learn Ginkgo’s personal report to the Securities and Exchange Commission. It’s like a sci-fi author’s brainstorm of plots for a catastrophe film:

“The discharge of genetically modified organisms or supplies, whether or not inadvertent or purposeful, into uncontrolled environments may have unintended penalties…

“The genetically engineered organisms and supplies that we develop might have considerably altered traits in comparison with these discovered within the wild, and the complete results of deployment or launch of our genetically engineered organisms and supplies into uncontrolled environments could also be unknown. Specifically, such deployment or launch, together with an unauthorized launch, may influence the atmosphere or group usually or the well being and security of our workers, our prospects’ workers, and the customers of our prospects’ merchandise. 

“As well as, if a excessive profile biosecurity breach or unauthorized launch of a organic agent happens inside our trade, our prospects and potential prospects might lose belief within the safety of the laboratory environments wherein we produce genetically modified organisms and supplies, even when we’re not immediately affected. Any adversarial impact ensuing from such a launch, by us or others, may have a fabric adversarial impact on the general public acceptance of merchandise from engineered cells and our enterprise and monetary situation…

“We may synthesize DNA sequences or have interaction in different exercise that contravenes biosecurity necessities, or regulatory authorities may promulgate extra far-reaching biosecurity necessities that our normal enterprise practices can’t accommodate, which may give rise to substantial authorized legal responsibility, impede our enterprise, and injury our status. 

“The Federal Choose Agent Program (“FSAP”), includes guidelines administered by the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention and the Animal and Plant Well being Inspection Service that regulate possession, use, and switch of organic choose brokers and toxins [a euphemism for bioweapons] which have the potential to pose a extreme risk to public, animal, or plant well being or to animal or plant merchandise. …[W]e may err in our observance of compliance program necessities in a way that leaves us in noncompliance with FSAP or different biosecurity guidelines. …

“Third events might use our engineered cells supplies, and organisms and accompanying manufacturing processes in ways in which may injury our status. 

“…[W]hile we’ve got established a biosecurity program … to make sure that third events don’t get hold of our engineered cells or different biomaterials for malevolent functions, we can’t assure that these preventative measures will eradicate or cut back the chance of the home and world alternatives for the misuse or negligent use of our engineered cells supplies, and organisms and manufacturing processes. …”

Ginkgo’s SEC submitting makes clear how unleashing Frankenmicrobes into the atmosphere may wreak havoc, but when that doesn’t do it for you, this chilling true story from Dr. Elaine Ingham will. (You may also watch a brief movie about it at Protect Nature Now and skim the unique 1999 scientific publication here.)

When Dr. Ingham was an affiliate professor at Oregon State College, she led a research on a genetically engineered soil bacterium that modified the course of her profession–and threatened all vegetation on Earth.

Within the 1990s, a European biotech firm (I haven’t been in a position to determine which one, however stories establish it as German, like Bayer and BASF), was getting ready to commercialize a genetically engineered soil bacterium referred to as Klebsiella planticola. In its pure kind, Ok. planticola helps decompose plant matter. The genetically modified model was meant to transform plant waste to alcohol, which could possibly be used for fertilizer or gas. However when Dr. Ingham and her staff determined to run their very own take a look at on the alcohol-producing bacterium, they found that it not solely killed all the vegetation examined, however had the potential to kill all terrestrial vegetation. Her findings in the end prevented the genetically altered bacterium from being commercialized, but in addition introduced in regards to the finish of her affiliation with Oregon State College, an establishment funded by the biotech trade.

That Dr. Ingham misplaced her college job when she saved the world from a GMO microbe that would have killed each plant on the planet tells us every thing in regards to the intentions of biotech behemoths like Bayer.

Based on Friends of the Earth:

“Bayer has amassed a group of a minimum of 125,000 wild microbial strains and in 2019 created an umbrella department for associated merchandise referred to as Biologicals by Bayer. The corporate has quickly expanded their actions on this space through acquisitions.

“Between 2012 and 2014, Bayer acquired three biologicals firms and in 2022 established a strategic partnership with Ginkgo Bioworks, a startup firm which has acquired $15 billion in funding to develop a platform to automate the genetic engineering of 1000’s of microbes without delay. Bayer additionally acquires and markets particular person microbial merchandise from different firms. Probably the most outstanding microbial merchandise launched by the corporate up to now are bacteria-based fungicides in addition to some plant progress selling merchandise.”

Bayer has made a pledge to “cut back the environmental influence of crop safety by 30 p.c with out sacrificing yield and the well being of the harvest” by 2030.

The reality is, Bayer has no plans to cut back its pesticide gross sales. What it’s trying to do is create further merchandise to stack on high of those it already sells.

Bayer is working with the Invoice Gates-backed Pivot Bio on genetically engineered nitrogen-fixing micro organism. The promise is that it may lower artificial fertilizer use, however there’s no evidence of that. Pivot isn’t letting impartial scientists consider their claims.

It’s the identical story with Poncho/VOTiVO, a hybrid chemical/organic insecticide product initially created by Bayer and now bought by BASF. As an alternative of selling the genetically engineered Bt micro organism VOTiVO as a substitute for the neonicotinoid insecticide Poncho (which kills bees), they’re bought collectively–and solely collectively–as a single product. This manner, the businesses can up-sell farmers, and if the product doesn’t work as marketed nobody is aware of what’s guilty.

The soil microbe rip-off is simply one other within the lengthy line of empty guarantees in regards to the potential advantages of genetic engineering for meals and farming:

We’ve been fed so many lies about GMOs.

GMOs have been going to “feed the world”, however Monsanto (which merged with Bayer and retired its notorious title in 2018) by no means got here up with any genetically engineered traits that elevated yields. They simply purchased up management of all of the high-yielding varieties–that had all been conventionally bred. 

GMOs have been going to “cut back pesticide use,” however there’s no different cause to genetically engineer crops to be impervious to pesticides apart from to promote extra pesticides–and that’s precisely what Monsanto did.

GMOs have been “protected”, however they have been by no means safety-tested. Monsanto prevented Meals & Drug Administration regulation by getting GMOs declared Typically Acknowledged as Secure (GRAS).

GMOs have been going to “coexist” with natural, however Monsanto made certain the burden was on non-GMO farmers to guard themselves from genetic air pollution and pesticide drift. When farmers’ seeds received contaminated, Monsanto efficiently claimed the farmers have been stealing its GMO traits.

GMOs have been going to make farming extra resilient to local weather change, however Monsanto’s “drought tolerant” corn was a failure.

Bayer claims to care about pollinators, however it invented the pollinator-poisoning neonicotinoid pesticides which are killing the birds and the bees—and it refuses to cease promoting them!

Bayer claims to care about farmers, however 11,000 rice farmers needed to sue it when Bayer contaminated rice seeds with unapproved GMO traits, inflicting $1.2 billion in losses. Bayer ultimately paid $750 million. Farmers nonetheless can’t develop that rice.

Based on a Greenpeace investigation, the contamination—which concerned three totally different GMO varieties—impacted rice seeds and 30 p.c of rice provides, together with rice exported to 30 international locations.

The contamination was found in 2006, however the rice hadn’t been grown since 2001. The unapproved GMO rice was nonetheless being present in Mexican supermarkets in 2010!

It’s onerous to imagine that any of that is an accident, particularly contemplating Bayer’s historical past. 

Bayer used prisoners in experiments at Buchenwald and Auschwitz. Auschwitz was the commercial manufacturing headquarters of Bayer and its mum or dad firm I.G. Farben throughout World Struggle II, constructed with slave labor bought from the Nazis. Bayer was the I.G. Farben division that marketed Zyklon B. Through the struggle, virtually all gross sales have been to the Nazis for his or her “fuel chamber” genocide.

Monsanto conducted human radiation experiments on unwitting, uninformed U.S. residents—from its personal workers to the residents of complete housing tasks—whereas working as a Pentagon contractor. It ran the chemistry aspect of the Manhattan Venture after which maintained the U.S. nuclear weapons manufacturing facility referred to as Mound Laboratories. 

When the struggle was over, the 2 firms jumped straight from the Holocaust, and constructing atomic bombs to kill Japanese civilians, proper right into a merger they referred to as MoBay. That collaboration resulted within the Agent Orange toxin the U.S. used within the Vietnam Struggle.

Bayer is evil.

From Zyklon B to Agent Orange to glyphosate-based herbicides like Roundup to pollinator-poisoning neonics, the corporate has performed nothing however attempt to kill us and destroy our capability to feed ourselves!

Why? They plan to earn money off the transition from agriculture as we all know it to a world the place lab-grown and artificial “proteins” are the brand new processed meals.

We should cease its newest plot to destroy our meals system.

TAKE ACTION: Stop GMO Soil Microbes!

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