Glyphosate: Deadly Microbial Poison or Life Enhancer?
The recent flap on glyphosate has been fun to watch. It is an ag chemical that is used on some transgenic crops that contain a gene allowing them to grow through herbicide treatment, where weeds die. This technology has been extremely helpful for farmers. Because the folks opposed to ag biotech have had zero luck tying the process of gene transfer or the genes themselves to any health issues, they have retreated to hammering glyphosate. After all, it is the chemical that makes the trait valuable. Plus it kills weed pests, so it can be lumped in with the ever-evil pesticides . Plus, herbicides by definition kill herbs, and herbs cure every disease in the world, ever. Big pharma just won't let that happen. Therefore, glyphosate has become the new popular target for the anti-GMO movement. Of course, nobody points out that glyphosate is used extensively in non-GMO applications, such as a harvest aid in grains, clearing rows of weeds in tree-crop orchards, or heavy use by mun