Re: Gene Modified ornamentals?

---

On Tue, 01 Aug 2000 23:46:15 -0600 connie hoy <coneh@uswest.net> writes:
> (I dont recall ever hearing of a dog being crossed with a cat for
> example let
> alone a fish)When odd ball crosses did occur i.e.a horse to a mule
> the mule
> is sterile

 

Connie --

 

One point of correction: a mule is the result of a mating between a female horse and a male donkey (jackass, burro, etc.).  The offspring of a male horse and a female donkey is called a hinny.  For, um, (logistical?) reasons hinnys are seldom produced.  As I said in a previous post, that mules/hinnys tend to be sterile at all is the oddity.  Many, many (most?) hybrids are quite fertile.  Lion/tiger hybrids, for example, are fertile, and almost all of our domestic cattle breeds are the result of crossings between different species as well as selective breeding.

 

When we're talking about something on a genetic level, this is really getting down to the building blocks, the ingredients, of life.  Geneticists are working with bits and pieces of matter the same size or smaller than individual cells.  These microscopic bits of the Universe aren't "pigs" or "cucumbers," they're "Gene 2041 which is resistant to Fusarium Wilt" and so forth.  It's all being done on microscope slides, goats aren't being forced to mate with tomatoes or anything, this isn't Dr. Frankenstein combing the cemeteries for parts (at least that anyone's making public...).

 

A lot of this genetic manipulation -- in the modern sense -- has been going on for quite some time.  For example, the "citronella" scented geranium was originally created years ago with cell injections from citronella grass -- the two species are considerably more distant in relation than dogs and cats.

 

One wonders why the American Society of Landscape Architects is having these kinds of concerns.  I would suspect that some person(s) is infiltrating their specific political views into this organization.  Seems like it would be more appropriate in a more relevant arena.   Plenty of things the ASLA could be worrying about, such as their use of proven invasive plants like Russian olive. Almost reminds me of the "vegetarians" who wear leather and live in houses held together with "glue factory" adhesives.

 

As the saying goes, just my two cents.

 

Dean Sliger

Warren, Michigan, USA

Zone 6B