SANET members following this thread,
One point I didn't mention from the article, and it is just
conjecture on the part of the researchers involved, is that the stable
DNA
fragments may have come from cells that animals shed in their feces. So,
passing through the digestive system of an animal might either create or
select for soil-stable DNA. Given that lots and lots of transgenic corn
grown in this country will pass through the digestive systems of animals
(including humans), seems like this topic is "fertile ground" for some
research. Are we putting a whole bunch of soil-stable transgenic DNA
into
the environment, and if so, does that matter? I don't know the answer.
Jane
At 09:44 PM 4/30/2003 -0400, you wrote:
Harris,
You made an interesting point.It is worth pointing out Bacillus
thuringiensis with potent and effective toxin cry genes do not appear
in average soil but have taken years to find , frequently in isolated
areas. However, when , say , a Bt corn or Bt cotton field, of which
there are millions of acres , is harvested the roots decay to release
tons of crop cells each containing Bt genes , many of which are
released. The Bt genes are spread to soil, surface and groundwater.
Or consider humans, many have been planted in soil at an appropriate
time as they decay they release interleukin genes to soil, surface and
groundwater. However, when a pharm crop containing human interleukin
genes is harvested the roots create a release of human gene at many
orders of magnitude greater level than the interleukin genes released in
a cemetery.
The point here is that the field releases of GM crops and pharm crops
have been done without due diligence in examining the escape of pollen
and of genes from those crops.
Joe Cummins
Jane Grimsbo Jewett
Information Exchange
Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture
University of Minnesota
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The best manure for the land is the owner's footprint
--Aristotle, Economics (paraphrased)