That “SEQ ID NO:4” stands for a heme protein that gives the fake meat its meaty taste and color. The protein is from a plant, so the fake meat is technically vegan, but the protein is apparently produced by a yeast strain that was genetically modified. Because the protein is isolated from the yeast culture before it is added into the “meat,” technically the burger does not have a GMO component in it. Welcome to the food of the future. ?
Wow, didn’t know all the details of that IB V2 although I had heard about the difficulty of extracting the heme molecule in a financially sound way.
Here is my non-scientific reaction to lab created foods. While most of the ingredients are ‘natural’ the combination of those ingredients are not found in that combination/concentration in anything nature produces by herself. Will our bodies/minds recognized this as food? It seems that those artificial sweeteners are not the gift from the lab they were supposed to be…turns out our brain/gut doesn’t seem to recognized the darn things as food.
So, how would my body know the IB V2 is food? What might my gut think it just received - and what’s it supposed to do with it. As the above quote states - our brain is a brilliant organ. And the info coming out on the gut biome/brain connection is just in its infancy. Can you just hear the microbes sending a signal to the brain saying - wow - what the blazes IS this schutffage and what pray tell am I supposed to do with this non-conforming mix of molecules?
And soon you will be able to wash your unburger down with a cup of uncoffee.
https://www.foodandwine.com/news/molecular-coffee-atomo
I tried it. It does not taste like coffee. 
But it does not have GMO.
I don’t get it. Is it to save the environment from bean farming? Is to save the calories from sugar and cream, which I don’t use anyway? I get the fake burger, but fake coffee?
Bean farming is their biggest issue.
There are also “synthetic” wines and booze. 
There is also a lab, I mean winery that swears they can replicate fancy wines by mixing together cheapo (but real) stuff.
Plant the same thing long enough and something will eventually show up that will eat it, maybe nearly all of it.
The idea of eating roundup drenched grain/etc. is appalling, though I can’t say I’ve noticed any effects yet. I have though come to the realization that substantial farming, without some types of pesticide, is pointless.
Try planting a modest 100’ row of black-eye or purple hull peas, fence it for the deer that come, then look up the curculio beetle. Plant again, spray with carbaryl this time, and pick/shell.
Organic is for those with both convictions and sufficient funds - the rest of us will have to wing it.
The fake meat also reminds me of the fake gems now. They’re grown in a lab and real, but not really.
There is a world of difference between fake gems and lab-created gems. I suppose you are referring to the latter. These lab-created gems are not fake - they are real because they have the same structure and chemical composition as the gems found in nature. They are also made by the same process as the one employed by Mother Nature - just accelerated a bit.
" I have though come to the realization that substantial farming, without some types of pesticide, is pointless."
Actually not. The future is pesticide free farming - indoor farming. Look to countries like the Netherlands who are leaders in the field (no pun intended as there aren’t fields in indoor and vertical farming ). If you’re not familiar with it, google it. No deer either.
We just saw a news piece on indoor vertical farming in Chicago. It was fascinating!
As an aware consumer I do everything in my power to avoid GMO for the plain and simple reason that we simply don’t know enough about the long term effects of them on our body. In coming years I suspect we will learn the hard way, as our parents did about the effects of smoking. And yes, I do try to choose local, organically grown produce.
With regards to organic, the main reason we started to up our purchase and use of them (outside of what we grow ourselves) came from reading a blurb in Nutrition Action that referenced the study in this article with a French study correlating with cancer incidents:
https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/organic-foods/can-eating-organic-prevent-cancer
As the article itself states, there are a lot of variables and 4 1/2 years is a short time, but on the other hand, those of us alive today can’t wait years until relationships are more fully known from longer studies. We’re guinea pigs by virtue of being alive and aging right now. My guys and I have opted to err on the side of pesticides not being good for us. If it helps, great. If not, we’re not “out” a thing.
We don’t worry about what we eat when we eat out or with others - or even 100% of the time eating at home, but we’ve definitely modified our buying and eating habits. I suspect my mom getting cancer has made me more aware of just how awful it is and we want to do anything we can to try to prevent it.
GMOs themselves don’t bother me, but like others, we make a distinction between those created for pesticide use and those used to make something sweeter or more drought resistant or similar.
Still pro-vax even with being anti certain GMOs.
So let me throw another wrench in the works… Steer Manure from standard feed lots is an allowable fertilizer for organic produce. Ironically, this ‘organic’ fertilizer can have high antibiotic residue due to what we feed commercial beef. So in the end, the organic stuff can be exposed to more antibiotics than the traditionally grown stuff which uses ‘chemical’ fertilizer.
https://articles.extension.org/pages/18628/managing-manure-fertilizers-in-organic-systems
Sigh. Nothing is easy or straightforward. And at the risk of raising too much ire ‘settled science’ is most often ‘science in the process of learning more stuff whereby we might reverse what we just said was settled’.
I’m a bit skeptical of a lot of food advertised as organic. Given the price premium, there is an incentive to not always be on the up and up in terms of practices. Best thing to do is know your local farmers and how they grow their crops/raise their livestock and to support the ones who do a great job.
One of my favorite Facebook pages is “We Love GMOs and Vaccines.”
“The future is pesticide free farming - indoor farming.”
If I was marketing tomatoes or other high dollar produce to urbanites, I’d look into greenhouse/irrigation systems. Especially if I farmed in an area with a short growing climate. Living in the SE US, and growing it to avoid being fleeced, I’ll continue reaching for the liquid Sevin.
As far as greenhouses vs. GMO goes: there were 85 million acres of soybeans planted in the US in 2018, and around 92 million acres of corn.
Like other, my problem is with Montsano and other business practices, rather than with the GMOs themselves. However, there are, ever so often, issues with some of their products, and lack of controls.
Plants sometimes cross fertilize between species, and some traits may be passed on. Now, the vast majority of those traits will not make a difference, however, things like pest resistance that is passed on to natives that are closely related to native plants can make them toxic to native species which feed on the plants.
Another issue is the loss of original breeds and genetic diversity, which, as we’ve seen with bananas (a low-tech genetic modification) can result in a single pest wiping out entire crops (“yes, we have no bananas”).
But no, GMOs will not harm people who eat them.
It’s like nuclear energy. Using the electricity won’t make you radioactive, and, with the right protections and safety measures it is amazingly clean energy. However, if you don’t have the right protections, there are so many ways it can go wrong, as we’ve seen.
PS. More people are still harmed and hurt, per kilowatt energy produced, by use of fossil fuels, than nuclear fuels, even with Chernobyl, Fukushima and all other nuclear reactor disasters. But that’s only because there are pretty serious protections and controls, even in countries that are relatively lax.
“with the right protections and safety measures it is amazingly clean energy. However, if you don’t have the right protections, there are so many ways it can go wrong, as we’ve seen.”
I agree with a lot of your post, @MWolf, but even with “right protections”, the reality is human error happens - and greed. For those reasons, I’m not a fan of nuclear power (and Monsanto) because I view the costs of error are too high a price to pay. And I think Chaos Theory has real world applications beyond the fantasy of Jurassic Park.
Permaculture farming is getting a following - my youngest lad being among them. So far he’s doing pretty well. It’s far less expensive than indoor and seems pretty darn good for the environment as well as for the folks consuming the foods. One of the tricks of the trade is planting foods for the predators to eat.
He also gives paid talks about the process. There are plenty of interested people crossing generations. I think many folks want to consume fewer pesticides and antibiotics. One never knows how much they change, but I know some do as they keep in touch with him.
My guy is not anti GMO. He’s just very pro Green (planet).