Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

nafex - Re: [NAFEX] Transgenic technology (was: Grapple)

nafex@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Matthew Oller <matthewoller@yahoo.com>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Transgenic technology (was: Grapple)
  • Date: Tue, 7 Apr 2009 03:30:58 -0700 (PDT)

A  judgment, based on infections that are totally preventable, somehow justifies "scientific" experiments on a bumbling, brainwashed public? Thaaankyou, very much mr scientist.
  I'm so glad I don't understand you!
  matt,peace

--- On Mon, 4/6/09, abb7@Lehigh.EDU <abb7@Lehigh.EDU> wrote:

From: abb7@Lehigh.EDU <abb7@Lehigh.EDU>
Subject: [NAFEX] Transgenic technology (was: Grapple)
To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
Date: Monday, April 6, 2009, 11:10 PM


-----Inline Attachment Follows-----

> From: Kevin Moore <aleguy33@yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: [NAFEX] nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
> To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
> Message-ID: <590577.91256.qm@web46008.mail.sp1.yahoo.com" href="/mc/compose?to=590577.91256.qm@web46008.mail.sp1.yahoo.com">590577.91256.qm@web46008.mail.sp1.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> I couldn't disagree more! Selective breeding is essentially making 
> use of a >natural process to our benefit. (Usually.) Transgenics has 
> two major flaws: It >is moving genes from animals, fungi and viruses 
> into plant material which could >never have gotten those genes in a 
> natural manner.

Many transgenic plants are made using the bacterium Agrobacterium 
tumefaciens, which makes its living inserting its DNA into the genomes 
of various plants.  Nonetheless, it is used to make transgenics that 
would not have existed without the intervention of the researcher.  I 
understand that many people are concerned about introducing genes from 
one organism into another...personally, I am not.  It is a judgenment 
call, and on that point, I am content to disagree.

> It also puts those genes in >a separate package that is not 
> integrated into the >plants' chromosomes and is >subject to migrate 
> into cells in the intestinal >tract of anything that eats >those 
> plants.

This is a misunderstanding of transgenics.  The introduced genes are 
in fact integrated directly into a chromosome, usually in the nucleus, 
but sometimes in the chloroplast.  They replicate and segregate right 
along with the rest of the DNA.  This is the only way introduced 
genetic material can be maintained in the plant.  Anything not 
integrated into a chromosome is lost.  AFAIK, the introduced genes are 
no more likely to migrate into cells in the intestinal tract than any 
other gene we eat.  If you can point me to evidence that indicates 
otherwise, I'd be very interested, especially in the mechanism.   
Documentation of horizontal gene transfer from ingested food would be 
a huge story in the field of genetics and evolution, but I've heard 
nothing of it.

> I would say transgenics is a disaster waiting to happen, except 
> several rather >major disasters have already happened. There are 
> very sound scientific reasons >as well as cultural ones for such 
> plants to have been banned in Europe.

"Major disaster" is hyperbole IMHO...how many people have died from 
eating transgenic food compared to the number of deaths from 
contaminated spinach and peanuts and other instances of food 
poisoning?  I agree that transgenic technology has its own set of 
problems, just like any other technology.  Unfortunately, the loudest 
protests often do their own cause a disservice when they are based on 
misinformation.

Alex

>> From: abb7@Lehigh.EDU
>> Sent: Apr 5, 2009 8:51 PM
>>> To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
>>> Subject: [NAFEX] nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
>>> Message: 2
>>> Date: Sun, 5 Apr 2009 09:55:08 -0700 (PDT)
>>> From: Kevin Moore <aleguy33@yahoo.com>
>>> Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Grapple
>>> To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
>>> Message-ID: <469850.16321.qm@web46015.mail.sp1.yahoo.com" href="/mc/compose?to=469850.16321.qm@web46015.mail.sp1.yahoo.com">469850.16321.qm@web46015.mail.sp1.yahoo.com>
>>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>>>
>>> It sounds really horrible! I wonder who's brainchild that was. I
>>> remember tasting >one of the first GM tomatoes that was touted as
>>> the future because it had this >really long shelf life. It tasted
>>> like gasoline! I still don't understand what is >so wrong with our
>>> natural produce that "they" keep wanting to mess with it.

>> Does grafting and countless generations of selective breeding not
>> count as "messing with it"?  Most of the fruit trees we grow are not
>> really "natural"...  Transgenic technology is just another tool to
>> introduce new characteristics to the plants.

Alex


----------------------------------------------------------------
This message was sent using IMP, the Internet Messaging Program.

_______________________________________________
nafex mailing list
nafex@lists.ibiblio.org

Reproduction of list messages or archives is not allowed.
This includes distribution on other email lists or reproduction on web sites.
Permission to reproduce is NEVER granted, so don't claim you have permission!

**YOU MUST BE SUBSCRIBED TO POST!**
Posts from email addresses that are not subscribed are discarded.
No exceptions. 
----
To subscribe or unsubscribe, go to the bottom of this page (also can be used to change other email options):
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/nafex

File attachments are NOT stripped by this list.
TAKE STEPS TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM COMPUTER VIRUSES!
Please do not send binary files.
Use plain text ONLY in emails!

NAFEX web site:   http://www.nafex.org/




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page