"What this gene does is it uses better what is in the plant already,
so rather than leave the protein and the zinc and iron in the straw,
we've moved a little bit more into the grain," Dubcovsky said.
I don't have a problem with crossbreeding domestic with wild plants.
I do have a problem understanding the mineral flow. This "scientific"
system might work for couple years but if the zinc and iron in the
ground are not replenished then the straw will become deficient in
those minerals and will become weaker and less and less will move
into the grain.
If it isn't in the soil, it cannot get into the straw or the grain.
Other than sun, rain and air, a plant is composed of what is in the
ground. When micronutrients are taken up they must be replaced. It
would take miraculously rapid mineral decay to provide new supplies
of micronutrients without human additions. Why dump micronutrients
into the ground so that the plant can move them into grain when a
multi-vitamin taken daily is more dependable?