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Just saw gene tweaks in food differently after talking to a small farmer
I used to support all gene-edited crops for better harvests. Talking to a small farmer made me see how patent rules can hurt them. Now I understand that focusing on one super-crop could kill off many old types. For example, if all rice is changed to fight one disease, a new disease might destroy it all. We should have laws that let farmers save and share seeds. This changed my view on farm policy. It's more than tech, it's about justice.
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adams.uma1mo ago
Golden Rice was actually made free for small farmers to grow. Some newer gene edits use open source patents too, not the old Monsanto model. The patent problem is real but it's changing with different crops.
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aaron_adams1mo ago
Honestly, you hitting on the patent problem changing is so key. It's easy to get stuck on the old Monsanto stories and miss the progress. I've seen how open source models can actually help regular farmers instead of hurting them. That shift matters a lot for making sure good tech reaches people who need it. Stuff like Golden Rice being free shows it's possible to do things differently. Really hope more crops follow that path so everyone benefits.
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the_leo1mo ago
Oh totally. I was just reading about that new non-browning tomato that came out last year. The group that made it set up the patent so any seed company can sell it, and backyard gardeners can even save the seeds. It's like the complete opposite of how things used to work. That kind of open model actually gets cool science into people's hands instead of locking it up. Feels like we might finally be turning a corner on this stuff.
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