After GMOs? MAS
Progressive news aggregator Common Dreams offers a glimpse at the next bogeyman coming to haunt the food chain: Marker Assisted Selection, or MAS.
Except this one doesn’t seem so bad. Like genetic modification technology, MAS allows you to spot desirable genes and get them into your new hybrid. Unlike its more feared relative, however, MAS is designed to work within species. You use genetic technology to spot the desirable genes in another variety or a wild cousin, and then you cross-breed in those traits. Fewer unexpected allergens in the food supply and fewer unchecked experiments in evolution.
Greenpeace has tentatively okayed the new technique, but the article cautions that it should still be used as part of a broader agricultural program. One thing’s for sure: This new technique will have an easier time making it past public phobias.
