http://gmopundit.blogspot.com/2009/01/natural-gmos-part-48-worried-about-grey.html
Natural GMOs part 48: Worried about grey hairs? -- Ugly forced insertion of DNA makes soybean hairs turn grey.
The legend of the black sheep returns. You say nothing, I say nothing parrot the anti-GM campaigners.
Soybean experts at the University of Illinois have been studying a poor little soybean plant whose flower hairs (called trichomes) have turned grey. It was a bit more than that actually, the flower hairs, that are normally tawny (Marilyn Monroe's natural colour), first of all became uncertain, neurotic and confused, and didn't know what to do (just like Marilyn). They were mottled, unstable and sulky. Then the grey hairs set in.
<b>Some more investigation revealed the reason why soy's hair turned grey is a nasty big lump of 20,000 bases of DNA that had roughly inserted itself in the middle of the mutated tawny gene.</b>
When biologists got finished with analysing what happened they found a dirty story that would have horrified the anti-GM activists if it occurred in a laboratory. But this time it was out in the field, so that is perfectly okay isn't it. You say nothing, I say nothing, as they say in the old African joke.
<b>The anti-GM campaigners want to ignore that this sort of thing goes on in nature</b> (just like the chieftain on being told black sheep in his field). But the truth is that is rough insertion of DNA in awkward chromosome locations occurs in many plants. Study of this soybean DNA insert reveals it is similar to the numerous mobile wandering genes that are present in many plants and many food crops. Similar wandering DNAs occur in corn, sorghum, carrots, mustard cress and several flowers.
The structure of the inserted soybean DNA is horrifying and it's behaviour is distressing. It displays evidence of -- wait for it -- genetic instability. All of this completely away from the watchful eye of the regulatory agencies.
The approach of the anti-GM campaigners who seem to know nothing about this natural gymnastics of DNA is to keep on ignoring reality. <b>Ordinary everyday evolution does the same things as the scientists do, but Greenpeace and Genethics and all they other anti-GM organisations only pay attention to risks when they happen in the laboratory.</b> The probable explanation is that they just don't know anything about modern genetics. Or equally likely, they are deliberately keeping quiet about something because it's an inconvenient truth that's awkward for their single minded tunnel-vision activism.
Natural GMOs part 48: Worried about grey hairs? -- Ugly forced insertion of DNA makes soybean hairs turn grey.
The legend of the black sheep returns. You say nothing, I say nothing parrot the anti-GM campaigners.
Soybean experts at the University of Illinois have been studying a poor little soybean plant whose flower hairs (called trichomes) have turned grey. It was a bit more than that actually, the flower hairs, that are normally tawny (Marilyn Monroe's natural colour), first of all became uncertain, neurotic and confused, and didn't know what to do (just like Marilyn). They were mottled, unstable and sulky. Then the grey hairs set in.
<b>Some more investigation revealed the reason why soy's hair turned grey is a nasty big lump of 20,000 bases of DNA that had roughly inserted itself in the middle of the mutated tawny gene.</b>
When biologists got finished with analysing what happened they found a dirty story that would have horrified the anti-GM activists if it occurred in a laboratory. But this time it was out in the field, so that is perfectly okay isn't it. You say nothing, I say nothing, as they say in the old African joke.
<b>The anti-GM campaigners want to ignore that this sort of thing goes on in nature</b> (just like the chieftain on being told black sheep in his field). But the truth is that is rough insertion of DNA in awkward chromosome locations occurs in many plants. Study of this soybean DNA insert reveals it is similar to the numerous mobile wandering genes that are present in many plants and many food crops. Similar wandering DNAs occur in corn, sorghum, carrots, mustard cress and several flowers.
The structure of the inserted soybean DNA is horrifying and it's behaviour is distressing. It displays evidence of -- wait for it -- genetic instability. All of this completely away from the watchful eye of the regulatory agencies.
The approach of the anti-GM campaigners who seem to know nothing about this natural gymnastics of DNA is to keep on ignoring reality. <b>Ordinary everyday evolution does the same things as the scientists do, but Greenpeace and Genethics and all they other anti-GM organisations only pay attention to risks when they happen in the laboratory.</b> The probable explanation is that they just don't know anything about modern genetics. Or equally likely, they are deliberately keeping quiet about something because it's an inconvenient truth that's awkward for their single minded tunnel-vision activism.
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