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Genetic Manipulations: An Engineering Disaster? exacerbated by the increasing practice of feeding pigs with mineral phosphate supplements in order to maximise growth.” Work is also underway to create a breed of salmon that grows at twice the rate as normally farmed salmon because it carries part of the genetic code of another type of fish, the ocean pout.” As for global food supplies, if food were not wasted and were equitably distributed among every country, we'd find that the Earth is capable of producing enough to meet humanity's need, but not to fill its greed. Whether for food or for profiting at the cost of fellow humans or the environment, greed will not be sustained in the long run. And that is something to think about. 00 have never been eaten as food as new proteins in the human and animal food chains. In 2006, scientists engineered a genetically modified breed of pigs that are able to absorb plant phosphorus more efficiently, as a result of which the phosphorus content of their manure is reduced by as much as 60 per cent. The aim of this research study was to reduce the major problem of pollution of waterways with phosphate and nitrate (eutrophication) and was meant to be an environmentally friendly solution. Livestock accounts for 34 per cent of the phosphate pollution in the European Union, with pigs making a significant contribution because they cannot digest phosphorus as phytate (the form it takes in plants) and so they excrete the plant phosphorus in their diets as phosphate. The level of pollution has been further Once again, scientists are ostensibly attempting to solve environmental problems or enhance global food supplies by means of genetic manipulations. But at best, hese well-meaning solutions seem partial, perhaps because those involved suffer from tunnel vision. A much more effective solution to he issue of pollution of waterways with phosphorus, for instance, would be to develop farming systems which match nutrient outputs from livestock © nutrient requirements for crops, hereby avoiding the problem of nutrient outflows and improving animal welfare at the same time. About the Author: Charu Bahri is an author and freelance writer living in India. She also works part-time for a charity in the health sector, and strongly advocates a simple, healthy lifestyle. She is the author of "The Ugly Truth about Beauty and Hygiene Products" (NEXUS, vol. 14, no. 1) and "Carbonated Drinks: Poison in Disguise" (NEXUS, vol. 14, no. 2). Read more about her work at http://www.charubahri.com. Charu Bahri can be contacted by email at charubahri@gmail.com. at 80 * NEXUS Continued from page 25 DECEMBER 2009 - JANUARY 2010 www.nexusmagazine.com