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Hey, reddit! Jason Mraz here. AMA! (self.IAmA)

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[–]Jason_Mraz[S] -32 ポイント-31 ポイント

Up until a few weeks ago, movie popcorn was my biggest guilty pleasure. I would binge eat. But then I found out movie popcorn is made from GMO corn. More than 80% of the corn grown in the US is Genetically Modified Corn. It is modified to have a pesticide IN the corn, so when bugs try to eat it, their stomach explodes. Well, the same happens inside human stomachs. Tiny ruptures cause guts to leak. And leaky guts create gastro-intestinal problems and inflammation. All illnesses come from inflammation. These GMO foods and intestinal tears are also directly linked to food allergy. We develop allergies to foods because our guts have leaked bile into the body and body says, okay, no more of that. Have you noticed a rise in food allergies in your community? Of course you have. We all need to vote NO on GMOS and demand proper GMO labeling. Otherwise we will keep eating poison. GMO's can also be linked to the rise in autism cases. If an infant drinks GMO soy baby formula, odds are that child will have MANY food allergies and possibly develop autism. YIKES! Say no to GMOs!!!!!

[–]opalorchid 110 ポイント111 ポイント

It is modified to have a pesticide IN the corn

That's a pretty inaccurate and unscientific explanation of how the corn is modified. You make it sound like a killer plant with human concocted chemicals mixed into it.

Many plants are already naturally allelopathic. The goal was to create crops that naturally are resistant to insects to reduce the amount of chemical pesticides that are sprayed all over our food, degrade the soil, and get washed away in the runoff, polluting local water supplies, damaging the environment, biomagnifying, and destroying local wildlife populations. By inserting the Bt gene from Bacillus thuringiensis, they were able to produce a corn product that naturally repels pests and avoids spending exorbitant amounts of money on chemicals that kill the environment.

Of course BMP and IPM would be much better approaches. Monocultures in general are unsustainable and detrimental to wildlife.

The point is, GMOs aren't all bad, and people perpetuating this idea that frankenfoods are out to destroy us are setting back huge advancements in science. I'm not a fan of Monsanto or the misuse of the science, monopoly of the market, or the manipulation of poor farmers in developing countries. However, the SCIENCE is amazing and has true potential for bettering our world.

For example, many people in developing countries die from malnutrition, in large part from vitamin A deficiency. By genetically modifying staple foods like rice to have vitamin A, those people are getting the nutrition they need without impacting their culture or changing their diets. They don't have to pay extra for foods with vitamin A that they don't easily have access to and they don't have to find and pay for vitamins. It's amazing what the science can do.

Making crops drought resistant is also a major part of GMOs. with climate change impacts growing and the increasing global food shortages, making sure our crops will persist through droughts is highly important.

This is what happens when you get a degree in ecology and wildlife management from a top university with an amazing agricultural history and department.

TL;DR- GMOs themselves aren't the enemy. Companies who misuse the science and people who use fear to perpetuate misunderstandings of the science are.

[–]interreddit 2 ポイント3 ポイント

Well put. I think people need to do a wee bit more unbiased research, imho. Besides, we as a species, have been modifying crops and livestock for..well, probably forever. Just not in the laboratory. See how soft the wool of my sheep are? Why yes, but they only live 10 years. Mine live twenty years, but, the wool is very scratchy. Hmmm, perhaps we can breed them together?

[–]Pumpkinsweater -3 ポイント-2 ポイント

I don't think either of these answers are entirely honest or accurate. Here's a description of what's happening, without any colorful language, people can decide whether they think it's a good thing or a bad thing:

  • B. thuringiensis is a bacteria, it produces a number of compounds that are interesting, the earliest discover was an insecticidal crystal protein.

  • This insecticide has been in use for about 100 years, and was most commonly sprayed on plants. You can buy it as insecticides called things like DiPel and Thuricide.

  • This particular insecticide is pretty particular (it's generally used to control only a couple species of insects, like the corn borer on corn), and is even considered environmentally friendly and approved for use in organic farming.

  • The first genetically modified, pesticide producing plant (the New Leaf Potato) approved by the FDA used the genes from B. thuringiensis to produce this specific insecticidal crystal protein. (although, it didn't sell well and isn't on the market anymore).

  • Genes from B. thuringiensis have been inserted in to a lot of plants from tobacco to soy to corn. And there are a lot of genes, each responsible for producing a different insecticidal protein that have been inserted, either by themselves or in combination (wikipedia says there's at least 10 different genes/insecticides)

  • These insecticides are considered safe for humans (in the doses that we normally come in to contact with them), and the proteins are showing up in varying concentrations in different parts of the plants. It's definitely true to say that there's now pesticides in GMO corn. It's also true that if they weren't genetically modified to be producing insecticides, there would be insecticides sprayed on them in the vast majority of cases.

[–]RobbieRaaaaaaborn 78 ポイント79 ポイント

Well, that escalated quickly.

[–]ARGUMENTUM_EX_CULO 49 ポイント50 ポイント

It's also almost completely incorrect.

[–]Hexaploid 13 ポイント14 ポイント

And its wrong for several reasons. Not all corn is the same; sweet corn, field corn, and popping corn are all different varieties of corn, and as it so happens, there is no genetically engineered popcorn. Even if GMOs were dangerous, popcorn would not be affected.

This brings us to point number two, GMOs aren't dangerous. The insecticide in Bt corn works by binding to a specific receptor found in the guts of certain orders of insects. Mammals simply do not have that receptor, and our digestive systems treat the insecticidal protein like any other of the thousands of proteins we consume in our meals. Some might be put off by engineering a plant to produce its own pesticide, but they should know that all plants produce their own insecticides as a defense mechanism. That's how an organism that can't move protects itself from all the insects that want to eat it. That the new protein in the GE crops is harmful to some organisms is also not an alarming issue...recall that grapes can cause renal failure in dogs, for example, and dogs are a lot more closely related to humans than corn borer. That doesn't mean we should stop eating grapes.

And of course, as for the rest of that post, correlation does not equal causation, but we can have some fun with that fallacy when its played.

[–]__me__ -5 ポイント-4 ポイント

My gut and my experience tell me otherwise. I don't eat corn. and when I do, I get sick. maybe scientists know that the Bt corn doesn't interact with our specific receptors, but something is happening with my digestion when I eat corn that's not good. I know that correlation is not causation, but when a certain product makes many, many people not feel well, there must be something in there that our bodies don't like. I think the science will catch up to human experience, and there will be proof that these GMO's are harming us.

[–]kvural 2 ポイント3 ポイント

You may just have a dietary issue. Or an allergy to corn, or something. Or maybe you're not storing it properly.

[–]G0jira 19 ポイント20 ポイント

So you're telling me that the bile naturally produced by our liver to aid in our digestion is not poisoning us to the point of food allergy. And I bet next you're going to tell me that we really landed on the moon.

[–]shaketheclouds 2 ポイント3 ポイント

GMO

lol, sounds like Jason developed fedortism.

[–]PM-YOUR-SECRETS 15 ポイント16 ポイント

It is modified to have a pesticide IN the corn, so when bugs try to eat it, their stomach explodes. Well, the same happens inside human stomachs. Tiny ruptures cause guts to leak. And leaky guts create gastro-intestinal problems and inflammation. All illnesses come from inflammation. These GMO foods and intestinal tears are also directly linked to food allergy. We develop allergies to foods because our guts have leaked bile into the body and body says, okay, no more of that.

Jason, you're an awesome musician.

Stick to that.

[–]Notwhoyouthink328 12 ポイント13 ポイント

What...the hell?

[–]G0jira 28 ポイント29 ポイント

Yes, if someone drinks gmo soy they can develop autism. The same way if someone drinks water they can develop cancer. But they are completely unrelated.

[–]priper 8 ポイント9 ポイント

Just be glad the man can write good music and not in charge of teaching science. We have lived disease free for so many years now, we tend to forget people used to die of infections, malnutrition and many others we now call preventable diseases.

[–]ilikestuffthatsgood 6 ポイント7 ポイント

You are full of shit, Jason Mraz

That felt good to say

[–]SaysHeWantsToDoYou 7 ポイント8 ポイント

Holy crap man, I had no clue how far forward on the GMO hype train you were. Please do a bit more research instead of relying on campfire anecdotes. I mean fuck Monsanto with rusty rebar for the legit reasons, but these aren't them.

[–]MennoniteDan 0 ポイント1 ポイント

What are the legit reasons?

[–]SaysHeWantsToDoYou -2 ポイント-1 ポイント

Patenting a certain GMO crop, that crop's seeds find their way into a family-owned farming business. Farmers unknowingly grow said patented GMO crop, Monsanto sues them for selling their product. Monsanto strikes a deal with them to only grow Monsanto's patented crop to avoid total loss.

[–]JF_Queeny 1 ポイント2 ポイント

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/10/18/163034053/top-five-myths-of-genetically-modified-seeds-busted

No. Just...no

[–]MennoniteDan 0 ポイント1 ポイント

Sorry, but that isn't how it has gone down in the past. Willfull selection for, and use of, patented "material" is what people have gotten sued for.

[–]ddplz 4 ポイント5 ポイント

Shut the fuck up retard.

[–]mlsoccer2 2 ポイント3 ポイント

Wow that is an unpopular view here on Reddit. Surprised you have more than 0 points now...

[–]I_messed_up_bad 2 ポイント3 ポイント

Hi

I'm Jason Mraz and I'm an artistic, rotated man

[–]CatGotNoTail 3 ポイント4 ポイント

No one thinks GMOs are a good thing, but oh honey. Bless your heart.

[–]GoldPantsPete 7 ポイント8 ポイント

GM orphan crops could save lives through better nutrition and provide stability during famine to those still practicing subsistence agriculture. Bill Gates thinks its a good idea!

[–]CatGotNoTail -1 ポイント0 ポイント

GMOs have their pros and cons. On a large scale it's a bit disconcerting to know that a single virus or bacteria could wipe out a major portion of our subsistence base, but I haven't seen any definitive evidence that GMOs cause autism. That's what I focused in on. Correlation does not equal causation.

[–]MennoniteDan 2 ポイント3 ポイント

The genetic diversity within my GMO corn is amazing. I have one hybrid that, turns out, is terribly susceptible to Northern Corn Leaf Blight. The other GMO hybrid (carrying the Bt and glyphosate tolerance genes) I had planted alongside the other didn't show the infection whatsoever.

Just because a crop is "GMO" doesn't mean that it doesn't express other strengths and weaknesses as well. Some varieties may show great resistances to mildews and molds but have terrible response to aphid pressure. The next variety of the crop may have a balance of both, or terrible resistance to anything but show amazing crop yield potential.

[–]Darkcroft 1 ポイント2 ポイント

Oh man, you have no idea, do you?

[–]WeaponsGradeHumanity 1 ポイント2 ポイント

You might like to take a few minutes to look up a guy called Norman Borlaug.

[–]EKEEFE41 0 ポイント1 ポイント

This is some of the dumbest shit I ever read...

[–]crimote22 0 ポイント1 ポイント

Okay. Dude, I love your music, and you seem like a really awesome person. I hope I get to meet you someday.

But

You can't make an unfounded and irrational claim for no reason. If there was actual, scientific evidence that GMO's caused autism or other diseases, we would find a better way to feed our enormous population

I don't mean some dumbass on the internet claiming to be a scientist. I mean actual, paid professional researchers and specialists in food science.

As I said before, I'm a huge fan. I don't mean to offend you. I mean only to protect you from people who will try to manipulate your celebrity status.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

[–]xodarkstarox -2 ポイント-1 ポイント

Hey! I work at the movie theater that, sadly, led to your discovery of GMO's in popcorn! :( I won't disclose which one because I'll keep your anonymity safe, but you come in every so often and it's great seeing you every time! You actually asked me if our corn was GMO. You're an awesome dude! I'm the guy you took the picture with at the theater!

[–]JF_Queeny 5 ポイント6 ポイント

You do realize no GMO popcorn has ever been released publicly

[–]Puninteresting -2 ポイント-1 ポイント

Making a pesticide that makes a bug's stomach explode doesn't seem to be a very smart way to make a pesticide.

[–]fathermocker 3 ポイント4 ポイント

Well, it kills the bug, so I would say it is smart as a pesticide (if that's what it really does).

[–]JF_Queeny 2 ポイント3 ポイント

Chocolate is a hell of a Canineacide. We shouldn't give it to children.