Terminator,mis-information,etc.

Meum71@aol.com wrote:

> In a message dated 1/29/99 1:04:10 AM Central Standard Time,
> b_david2@netvision.net.il writes:
>
> << The germination "terminator" must be DEactivated
>  so that Monsanto's customer can sow seed. >>
> I will just use use this statement to show you that your sources of
> information are wrong or misleading (lying maybe)
> The gene is inactive until treated, it must be ACTIVATED to work.
> The gene has no effect-like over 90 percent of other genes in the DNA code
> until activated.  Even If the gene was to out breed into other populations of
> crops it would have no effect.
>

Paul,
I appreciate your frustration(and your correctness) at some of the inaccurate
statements being made here..This is a very complex subject and much to absorb
(*but with a little time and effort one can inform themselves)...You mix that
with high emotion and it makes for mis-information being passed on as fact.

In an attempt to clarify some of the elements of this problem the following was
copied to this post in an effort to help others get a grasp of the facts..That is
not to say I agree with you that this ,SPECIFIC,technology is the way to go.The
inadequate testing to verify long term effect to all realms eco,human,animal is
reason enough to say no to this concept.Additionally there are and will be other
techniques that will do the job equally (or better)without endangerment.

Conversely I AM NOT opposed to any and all Genetic engineering..It holds enormous
potential  of good for all (including the industry).However that assumes
integrity of that Industry,to advance on a technology such as this with the
notion that everyone will 'do the right thing'is absurd.....SO its
*essential*that all safeguards much be  established and employed to enforce those
less than righteous.
The old saying 'act in haste and repent in leisure'applies,IMHO.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Please, people we must educate ourselves if we are to speak intelligently in our
own defense.
Granted it  isnt an'easy read' but so necessary to 'make our case'to the powers
that be.
It only undermines us and the issue at hand to make emotionally based, inaccurate
statements.
As stated before they have studied this 'Fear Factor',and they have all the
statements of response rehearsed and ready when needed.
It only gives them re-enforcement when we prove ourselves 'ignorant'and
incomprehending of the facts.This is just one of many articles than help us help
ourselves.I did NOT copy the entire article due to length but the link is there
at the end if you want to read the entire text..
Connie Hoy


by

                    Martha L. Crouch, Associate Professor of Biology
                                Indiana University
                             Bloomington, Indiana, USA
                                crouch@indiana.edu




To activate the toxin gene, seeds just starting to germinate would be treated
with
tetracycline, right before they are sold to farmers. The tetracycline would
interact with the
repressor protein, keeping it from interfering with production of recombinase.
Recombinase
would be made, cutting out the blocking DNA from the toxin gene. The toxin gene
would now be
capable of making toxin, but would not actually do so until the end of seed
development. The
next generation would thus be killed.


Clearly, farmers would not want plants genetically modified with Terminator to
spread into
surrounding areas or to grow from seed as unexpected "volunteers" in another
season. They also
would not want the Terminator plants to exchange genes with other varieties or
related species.
Interestingly, Terminator has been proposed as a method to prevent just such
escapes of GMOs
and their genes. However, Terminator is not likely to function well for such
purposes.

First, it is unlikely that any tetracycline treatment will be 100% effective. For
various
reasons, some seeds may not respond, or take up enough tetracycline to activate
recombinase. In
such cases, the plants growing from the unaffected seeds would look just like all
the others,
but would grow up to make pollen carrying a non-functional toxin gene. The pollen
would also
carry the genetically-engineered protein supposedly being protected by
Terminator, such as
herbicide-tolerance. If this pollen fertilized a normal plant, the seed would not
die, because
no toxin would be made, but the seed would now have the herbicide-tolerance gene
and could pass
that on. Thus a trait from the GMO would have escaped through the pollen.



Another possibility is that even successfully activated Terminator genes may fail
to make toxin
because of a phenomenon called gene silencing. In experiments with other GMOs, it
was
discovered - quite unexpectedly - that in some cases, previously active
(introduced) genes can
suddenly stop working. If this phenomenon occurred with seeds containing the
Terminator gene,
plants containing the silenced toxin gene could grow and reproduce, perhaps for
several
generations. Thus, Terminator and other engineered genes could be carried into
the future, to
be expressed -- perhaps still unexpectedly -- at some later time.

Depending on Terminator to prevent GMOs or their traits from spreading
unintentionally is
unrealistic. "Escapes" are even more likely to occur in some of the other patent
applications,
where the genetic components of Terminator will reshuffle during sexual
reproduction, and a
portion of the seeds will lack the toxin altogether, and thus be viable.

http://www.bio.indiana.edu/people/terminator.html


> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@mallorn.com with the
> message text UNSUBSCRIBE PROPAGATION



---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@mallorn.com with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE PROPAGATION
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index