Mad Science: The Genetic Crossroad With Anna Kavanaugh Anna Kavanaugh

One of the latest practices in biotech is a process that allows DNA to be edited down to the letter. Known as CRISPR technology, scientists now have the ability to control gene mechanisms with unprecedented accuracy and without traditional invasive high-cost GMO procedures as they exist now. In effect, CRISPR is the evolution of GMO. All of this allows corporations to continue producing genetically altered foods without ever having to worry about legislation or labeling mandates. As consumer "right to know" demand increases and more companies are responding to protests by voluntarily labeling GMO products or removing them from their ingredients altogether, industry is well ahead of the game and consumers should not be fooled into complacency. CRISPR technology allows a crafty bypass because it is not recognized technically as a GMO process as is currently defined. Industry can use this technology to dodge existing regulations now, or in the future, and avoid GMO stigmas in public perception as they continue driving corporate profit. They would not have to disclose this new process to regulators or the public, rendering the hotly debated GMO labeling issue effectively moot. Present day loopholes in an obsolete agribusiness regulatory system may be the biggest challenge yet as consumers fight to stay informed and aware of what is happening to the manufacturing of food. Is CRISPR technology the ultimate bait and switch in the GMO debate?

Throughout the GMO, biotech and agrochemical debates, we have witnessed the ultimate in corporate control and influence along with the disastrous impacts from the implementation of these technologies in our world food supply, pharmaceuticals, and the reckless tampering of DNA for profit-driven purposes. These impacts pose drastic effects to our human health and evolutionary process in a variety of ways. However, there is another critical aspect to the larger picture of which we are not talking enough about: the frightening consequences resulting from the biotech industry that now compromise the delicate balance of our planetary ecology and environment. As the hand of biotech continues to sweep across and outright ignore all reasonable boundaries of ethics and morality in its unquenchable thirst for power and profit, how close are we to the final curtain-call where nature, in its own inevitable wisdom, will protest against us and what cost will future generations have to pay for the mistakes made today?

It is still a fairly new-recognized and rapidly increasing reality. Gluten intolerance has become a primary health concern for millions of consumers around the world. However, in the face of such an epidemic, the biotech industry is in aggressive pursuit of genetically manipulating a relief for this affliction, one they seek undoubtedly to capitalize on. If brought to fruition, the result of such a genetically engineered response may in actuality cause more grave consequences to consumers than it will provide them help. Revealing the latest research and what it says about gluten intolerance and the dangers involved with GM alternatives currently under development. If you are one of the millions suffering from this affliction, please don't miss out on hearing the important information brought to you in this broadcast.

To celebrate the airing of our 25th broadcast episode, tonight's show examines some of the highlights in previous shows and developments that have happened since. A discussion about everything from GMO labeling, to the global presence of agribusiness, to the frightening innovations under design in the biotech industry that may have serious impacts on consumers before another year comes to pass. We have seen good progress in consumer awareness and global action for change over the course of our previous broadcasts since first airing in January, 2013. But how much further do we have to go? Have we reached the point of no return? With planetary impact, climate change, and consumer health in the balance, find out how the link to GMO is affecting us all. 

As we forge our way into the future, designing and constructing biological devices and systems for marketable purposes is no longer the stuff of science fiction, but quickly becoming the norm.  Much more frightening is that it is rapidly being realized as the acceptable norm. What are the real implications of what is being dubbed, "The New Biological Revolution," in which agribusiness meets synthetic biology to not only define the next step in GMO, but also our own evolution as a species?

Many nations in the world have become prey to the agribusiness industry as it engulfs more and more crop-lands around the globe. Developing countries in Africa, South America, and Asia, are ripe for the picking, but how far will the push for profit and power go when it comes to the natural development of these vulnerable lands? As the corporate players of biotech and chemical agribusiness work to secure even bigger markets for themselves, what will be the ultimate impact to developing countries, and ultimately, to the rest of us?