SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
from the swine-version-of-the-universe-championships dept.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals claims that Cambodian farmers are breeding "double-muscled" pigs. "Double-muscled" refers to a mutation in the myostatin gene (MSTN) which normally keeps muscle growth in check. Disruption of MSTN can lead to the abnormal proliferation of muscle cells in an organism:
Mutant pigs bred to grow to an enormous size just to be slaughtered and eaten? No, we aren't talking about the plot of the eye-opening Netflix sensation Okja—rather, this is the very real horror that seems to be unfolding on a Cambodian farm, where genetically altered pigs are being bred to develop heaping knots of muscle mass. Disturbing video footage and images captured on the farm have exploded around the web, sparking discussions about the many ways that animals suffer and are abused when they're treated as nothing more than "food."
[...] When South Korean and Chinese scientists created 32 double-muscled piglets in 2015, according to reports, only one was considered even marginally healthy. But pigs suffer even without this "Frankenscience"—on typical pig farms, their tails are cut off, their sensitive teeth are ground down, and the males are castrated, all without so much as an aspirin. Then, even though we have a wealth of nutritious plant-based foods to eat, these intelligent, playful, sociable animals' throats are slit and their bodies are turned into pork chops or sausages.
Breeders have exploited natural double-muscling, which occurs in Belgian Blue cattle, to create behemoth animals who suffer from a slew of health problems—just to yield slightly larger profits.
[Note: On Google News, only corroborating sources seem to be British tabloids right now]
Previously: "Double-Muscled" Pigs Created Using Simple Gene Modification
Scientists Create Extra-Muscular Beagles
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Monday October 02 2017, @02:30PM (1 child)
Even if you are a fruitarian, you will be selectively planting seeds that deliver the food you want to eat. That's what agriculture is all about.
Don't forget weeding. Your garden probably isn't going to do well unless you maintain it to keep the "weeds" out, since the plants which are edible don't compete well with wild "weeds". In doing this, you're brutally murdering all those helpless plants! And then you're being cruel to animals (esp. insects) by taking measures to keep them from eating your produce.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Monday October 02 2017, @04:54PM
Not strictly true, though usually true. But, e.g., dandelion greens are edible, especially when young. Wild grapes are tastier than the commercial varieties, though they're mainly seed. Etc.
It's not being edible that compromises the competitiveness of a plant (or animal), it the degree to which it is edible. Berries are designed to be edible...but by birds rather than by mammals with grinding teeth. Most berries depend on birds eating them to spread the seeds. It's my guess that the wild tomato had a similar plan, but I don't really know anything about it. Things like peaches were evolved with the large mammals (currently extinct) which is why their pits are so well protected. These browsers would eat the fruit whole and the seed would pass safely through, and be embedded in rich fertilizer. This is actually similar to the deal the people made with fruit (you feed us, we'll plant your seeds) but in a wild form.
OTOH, it's not clear to me that any animal has ever made a deal about being eaten, unless you go down the the insects, and even then it's usually in trade for sex.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.