From: Party of Citizens (citizens@vcn.bc.ca)
Date: Fri May 30 2003 - 16:36:57 MDT
On Fri, 30 May 2003, Harvey Newstrom wrote:
> Party of Citizens wrote,
> > Speaking of genes, let me ask another pesky question. Can anyone tell me
> > why we don't get TV news or Discovery reports on gene mutations with
> > beneficial effects like:
> >
> > "News: MIT gene x mutation causes chickens to lay more eggs!"
> >
> > "News: Harvard gene y mutation causes race horses to run faster!"
> >
> > With Project Genome well underway the individual gene mutations could even
> > be located on the chromosomes.
>
> Because they haven't actually found a mutation to make chickens lay more
> eggs or make race horses run faster? :-)
>
> Seriously, we are still at the beginning of genetic manipulation. Plant
> manipulation is farthest along, and even it has not made too many
> spectacular breakthroughs. The golden rice (beta-carotene in rice) is
> probably the best accomplishment I can think of, and it still is a
> relatively low dose of beta-carotene.
Is it even a gene-mutation effect? I was trying to differentiate between
gene mutations and gene splicing in genetic engineering. The latter has a
number of success stories going for it. I don't know of any for the
former. Do you?
POC
I think GM crops have been made
> resistant to insects and/or pesticides, but they still don't yield more or
> faster than regular crops. This particular goal has not been achieved yet.
> Until GM crops actually produce a better yield, the advantages are not quite
> as obvious.
>
> --
> Harvey Newstrom, CISSP, IAM, GSEC, IBMCP
> <www.HarveyNewstrom.com> <www.Newstaff.com>
>
>
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