5 ms·
The transgenic petunia carnage of 2017
- mirimir 9y agoFrom Echopraxia by Peter Watts: > Even DNA computers, custom-built for a specific task and then tramped carelessly into wild genotypes like muddy footprints on a pristine floor. Nowadays it seemed like half the technical data on the planet were being stored genetically. Try sequencing a lung fluke and it was even money whether the base pairs you read would code for protein or the technical specs on the Denver sewer system.
- pavement 9y agoIf we react like this about transgenic flowers, imagine the reaction to transhumanism, when cybernetic implants, CRISPR genome editing and human cloning all converge.
- AstralStorm 9y agoHuman genes don't spread by pollination. However, some might get introduced into retroviruses and spread that way.
- Sunset 9y ago>Human genes don't spread by pollination Are you sure :D
- funnyfacts365 9y agoIt's called spermination, vulgo fucking.
- pvaldes 9y agoBut having some roses can help.
- pavement 9y agoSpreading via internet is an immeasuably more potent propagation pathway than particles on the wind.
- leggomylibro 9y agoI was gonna say, it is going to be fascinating to see what happens as targeted genetic modification becomes more widely available. It only takes one idiot putting psilocybin into a dandelion and planting them in the front lawn...
- rabboRubble 9y agoThis may be the most click-baity article title ever and I absolutely love it. The actual article lived up to the hyped up title. So completely fascinating. I've sent the article to everybody in the family to see if they have orange petunias growing in their yards! The one thing the article didn't cover is the patent violation implications of the GM plants growing (and probably being breed for seed-for-sale crops). I'd bet that these particular flowers have patents underlying GM modifications. I found a newer flower color patent with a single google search. [0] Somebody likely may be paying through the nose for this whoopsie under Monsanto vs. Bowman! [1] [0] https://www.google.com/patents/CA2930494A1?cl=en https://www.google.com/patents/CA2930494A1?cl=en [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowman_v._Monsanto_Co https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowman_v._Monsanto_Co.
- mememaestro 9y agoTL;TR; Why are the petunians illegal in EU?
- DarkKomunalec 9y agoSo what would be the effect on the ecosystem if a species with built-in insecticides got out?
- Baeocystin 9y agoWell, consider that plants as a group already produce endogenous insecticides by the boatload. Adding a strain that produces another one is just adding one more example to a pile that is already huge. Which is not to say that there aren't any risks at all. But plants and insects are already locked in a millions of years long battle/cooperation. And look how quickly insects have developed resistances to our modern pesticides. Adaption to something new appears to take years to decades, not centuries or longer.
- DarkKomunalec 9y ago'insects have developed resistances' Some insects. And you're very correct that the insect-insecticide battle has been going on for a while - that doesn't mean giving one side a huge leg-up won't have consequences. Genetic engineering can accomplish millennia of evolution in a single generation - the two are not the same.
- Baeocystin 9y agoI don't disagree that there are risks. But genetic reshuffling, recombination, and horizontal gene transfer has been going on en masse in the microbiota we are surround by for billions of years. I think once we start considering introducing truly novel genes, we will have a case for greater caution and reserve. But so far, all projects are of the 'transfer this already existent gene to this other organism', and I think that is a less risky proposition overall.
- unknown_apostle 9y agoIn this matter of extreme complexity and nonlinearity, how can you ever tell the point where being paranoid is the right thing to do? E.g. how can you know that transferring a gene from maize to petunias is still "sufficiently close" to the level of variation seen in ancient natural processes and evolution? (Genuine question but also genuine worry about this.)
- eukaryote 9y agoOh no, not again
- nunb 9y agoaha! I recant my: did nobody think of Agrajag[1] and the petunias[2] ? [1] http://hitchhikers.wikia.com/wiki/Agrajag http://hitchhikers.wikia.com/wiki/Agrajag [2] https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/124539-curiously-enough-the-only-thing-that-went-through-the-mind https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/124539-curiously-enough-the...
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- gwern 9y agoOriginal paper: http://biorxiv.org/content/biorxiv/early/2017/05/26/142810.full.pdf http://biorxiv.org/content/biorxiv/early/2017/05/26/142810.f...