Considering that literal dozens of roundup resistant versions of weeds have appeared in the last twenty years, I'm not sure it's appropriate to call the "superbug" concern a long-term one. It's already happened, and continuing to grow.

Some additional notes based on growing up in a wheat / corn farming family:

My family uses GMO herbicide/pesticide-resistant corn seed (Roundup Ready). It's a tradeoff, because:

1) Roundup Ready seed is somewhat expensive, especially compared to just holding on to a small amount of your own harvested crop as next year's seed.

2) Like the video mentioned, the GM seeds we used have been modified to be sterile, so the grain they produce can't be replanted. Part of the justification for that is not wanting the GM version to intermingle with unmodified strains. But, most is pure profit motivation -- they want you to be forced to buy that GM seed. I don't really see that as nefarious, just business -- but opinions differ.

3) My family discovered that for corn, we could us the GM Roundup Ready seed roughly once every 5 years while still benefiting from drastically reduced insect / plant pests. If corn is within pollination range of another less known crop plant called milo, the plants can hybridize and produce a plant called shattercane. Shattercane is essentially worthless as a food crop, but is very hardy, and can spread and in many cases outcompete the corn or milo that you really want.

Getting rid of it was a very difficult and intensive process -- until the GM seed came along. Now if we see shattercane starting to make incursions, we can plant the GM seeds the next year and then hit the field with a herbicide that kills the shattercane. It works so well that the field remains clear of the pest plants / insects for several years after that without having to use much if any herbicides / pesticides.

4) In our situation, we found that we used way less herbicide / pesticide per year on average once we started rotating in the GM seeds once every several years. That would be close to a wash, but still likely a net savings even if we used the GM seeds every year (seed companies will try to sell it to you every year). Factor in increased crop yields because of the reduced/eliminated pests, and it is a clear win.

5) I'm sort of worried about the potential for a "superbug" effect, similar to overusing / misusing antibiotics. If farmers buy into the GM seed thing 100% and use it every year, I think it will increase the chances / rate of the pests becoming resistant to the pesticides / herbicides used. That's a long-term concern, and in my opinion doesn't even come close to outweighing the "pro" side of the GM argument (at least from the perspective of my family's farm), but it is something to think about.

If religion is the disease, then why did we have over 100 million deaths from atheistic regimes in the 20th century? They made it their express goal to exterminate religion and in the process committed some of the worst atrocities in history. No, the problem is clearly human nature. When man tries to get rid of God he just replaces God with himself. I agree with you, that religion itself has contributed to the suffering and degeneration of the planet. Jesus hated religion. That's why He drove the moneychangers out of the temple. That is why He railed against the pharisees. He said, these people worship God with their lips but their hearts are far from Him. Scripture says this about religion:

James 1:27

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

The problem has always been that people follow the traditions of men rather than demonstrate the love of God. Even just a few decades after the cross, Paul wrote about men who preached a different gospel, one that glorified men rather than God. The contamination is universally human nature. Nothing is pure in the hands of an impure heart.

Examine history and see the parallels. Humanity is just repeating the same story, over and over again. There is nothing going on today that hasn't already happened before. The set and props have changed, but our nature hasn't changed. Man corrupts everything he touches because his scheming is against the will of God. There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end are the ways of death. The problem is outlined in this video. Yes we have more knowledge, but knowledge doesn't help us. What we need is wisdom. However, wisdom doesn't come from man, it comes from God. Wisdom isn't something you can engineer..explore some philosophy and you will see that ultimately it has no real answers.

The divine wisdom, however, ordained that Jesus Christ would come in the flesh to give us our answer. It says that message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. The world in its wisdom knows nothing of the ways of God, so God chose what the world would consider foolish to shame the wise. God chose to save us in a way people would consider foolish, because the foolishness of God is wiser than mans wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than mans strength. You think it's ridiculous, but God is simply showing up the wisdom of the world for what it is: foolishness.


>> ^Fletch:
Religion is the disease, Blurry. You're feverish rants, nonsense ramblings, and tone-deafness are primary symptoms. Reason is the only thing that can save you or this planet, but I fear it is too late for you and your fellow carriers. The infection has mutated into hundreds of different, self-preserving variations, and reason, although a powerful medicine (and requisite for wisdom), cannot cure those who refuse treatment in the first place, or have simply become immune to it's healing due to past, repeated undertreatment. Religion has evolved into a superbug.
Can the next version of VS please hide ignored comments that have been quoted in a subsequent comment?

Religion is the disease, Blurry. You're feverish rants, nonsense ramblings, and tone-deafness are primary symptoms. Reason is the only thing that can save you or this planet, but I fear it is too late for you and your fellow carriers. The infection has mutated into hundreds of different, self-preserving variations, and reason, although a powerful medicine (and requisite for wisdom), cannot cure those who refuse treatment in the first place, or have simply become immune to it's healing due to past, repeated undertreatment. Religion has evolved into a superbug.


Can the next version of VS please hide ignored comments that have been quoted in a subsequent comment?

>> ^GenjiKilpatrick:

sorry dude. but .. why does the sift insist archiving the stupidest shit on the interwebs?

does know what a superbug is but he can inform us about details of radioactive decay?!

stop sifting plainfully stupid things for the sake of upvotes and sift (and world) will be a much nicer place


I like to be very logical about certain things--so that's where I will be coming from in the explanation. Let's include @BoneRemake in this because I actually respect both your opinions.

You upvoted a video about, as you would call her in your comments, a retarded girl. This was about global warming and was the "stupidest shit on the interweb." Even, I would argue, dumber than this kid (Since he has a chance to grow into a smart adult. In fact, he probably will grow up to be an atheist.

Point is, that video had no redeeming factors. Both videos are different only in insignificant points--meaning, they are pretty much two sides to the same coin.

And yet, why did you upvote that and downvote this?

You ask why I posted this? Because sometimes stupidity makes me feel nice. Sometimes it makes me work harder being a good father. Sometimes it makes me be a better neighbor, friend, and sometimes it makes me laugh. In this case--it's being a better father.

For that matter, why should people post retarded law enforcement officers doing criminal acts? Is it to promote that behavior? Or is it because it should be documented? Of course the second...

Your upvoted vid of the retard... http://videosift.com/video/How-to-permanently-fix-global-warming?loadcomm=1#comment-1228932

sorry dude. but .. why does the sift insist on archiving the stupidest shit on the interwebs?


he doesn't know what a superbug is but he can inform us about details of radioactive decay?!


stop sifting painfully stupid things for the sake of upvotes and sift (and world) will be a much nicer place

AFAIK the current belief is that "superbugs" have arisen from people taking, for example, HALF of a course of anti-biotics. Of course, the more resilient bugs survive against the onslaught of the anti-biotic the longest, people think they're better and they stop taking the medication.

Meanwhile, the more resilient bugs are still alive because you didn't take the whole course. They breed with other more resilient bugs and create a host of "more resilient bugs".

Then, someone takes a nice strong antibiotic for those more resilient bugs. Same happens. Then the same happens again, and before you know it you've got bugs that are virtually impervious to antibiotics.

I was led to believe that "superbugs" weren't an inevitable side-effect of the use of antibiotics, but rather an effect of people not medicating correctly + time.

It's selective breeding, like we do with animals.

VACCINES DO NOT WORK THAT WAY! Goodnight.

>> ^Yogi:

What about all the superbugs that vaccines are now responsible for? What I don't like about Penn and Teller's Bullshit, is when they pick a subject they choose what they want to talk about too narrowly. It's like the point of this show isn't to educate but to lash out at those who make some false claims...it's missing the script completely.


>> ^Yogi:

Soooo Vaccinations are perfect? I don't buy it....even penicillin is coming back to bite us in the ass.
EDIT: I should point out that I never got vaccinations and I'm healthy as a horse...a horse thats very healthy.

What about all the superbugs that vaccines are now responsible for? What I don't like about Penn and Teller's Bullshit, is when they pick a subject they choose what they want to talk about too narrowly. It's like the point of this show isn't to educate but to lash out at those who make some false claims...it's missing the script completely.

Homeopathics are not expensive. A vial which costs about $8US lasts us a year. Don't presume to know anything about me, Farhad. I stick with what works, it's got noting to do with belief. Try sitting up all night with a baby screaming with symptoms that the hospital emergency ward can offer nothing other than antibiotics for, and no explanation for the child's symptoms and see how quick you are to try whatever seems to work.
I think you coud do with some real life experience to broaden your mind a little. I choose alternatives to antibiotics because I endured an entire childhood being fed them and they did more damage than good. Antibiotics are overused by many GPs and this is causing big problems for the fight against superbugs.