h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Good one

Should inspire a bit of debate on h2g2, too!

I would have liked even a list of potential or identified problems with GM plants (is Bt resistance a problem?). My backyard genetic lab is nearly ready, and I'm hoping to get a good crop of trees that fruit fifty-dollar notes before too long...

Very interesting, although I think the rather excellent graphic of some Trifids is perhaps against the spirit of the article.
Would be interesting to hear something about the possibilities of cross contamination and what not and whither it is any more dangerous in the long run than cross breeding.

Yeah, I liked the triffids pictures too . This was supposed to be a non-biased entry!

People have been thinking about future Bt resistance for years. I think the trick that they will use is to "stack" Bt genes. That means that instead of insects becoming resistant to a single gene, which, given enough time, is likely, they would have to become resistant to two or more genes simultaneously, which is still possible (as anything is possible!) but far, far less likely to happen.



Do you mean cross contamination between wild and domesticated GM plants, or between GM plants and weeds ("superweeds")?

The thing with cross contamination is not whether it happens (it does), it's whether it will confer a selective advantage to the wild plants recieving the genes. Some people think that transgenes, out of their intended environment (i.e., irrigated and fertilised fields), would be a burden upon the plants physiology, actually becoming a selective disadvantage.



Ste

First, great article!

Re: Bt toxin resistance - from what I've heard Bt toxin is already widely used (either as a toxin-spray or a bacterial culture mix) in many places, including organic farming (apparently it's one of the only methods of pest control that is considered "organic"). There isn't really any reason why a GM plant with Bt would be more likely to create resistant insects than a regular plant sprayed with it. Unless the level of Bt expression is too low.. but they sorted that one out, I think.

IIRC they actually added chloroplast-target DNA sequences to get the gene into the chloroplasts. Lots of chloroplasts per cell = lots of gene coppies = lots of expression. And because the Bt gene is a bacterial gene, it works better with little modification in the chloroplast. Plus, because pollin doesn't have chloroplasts, you don't need to worry about gene escape!