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Parasites don't "activate on an enzyme". That is not how parasitism works. Also, pest insects are not parasites. They're just insects that like to eat tomatoes
by sampo 9y ago
Parasites don't "activate on an enzyme". That is not how parasitism works.
Also, pest insects are not parasites. They're just insects that like to eat tomatoes, just like we do. Eating food is not parasitism.
- herrity4 9y agoEh, it's a rough example. Plants produce something plant eater (fungal, bacterial, insect) is attracted to and we're modifying the levels. Semantics of the relationship be damned, there can be evolutionary consequences.
- sampo 9y agoPlants produce food: starch and sugars (and a bit of protein). We're not modifying the levels of those. The apple case is about modifying the levels of an enzyme, polyphenol oxidase [1]. But that is not what plant-eaters are interested in. They're interested in the food in an apple, not some enzyme levels. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyphenol_oxidase https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyphenol_oxidase
- herrity4 9y agoI'm obviously not talking about this specific modification.