Hi Joe,
The main point is that RNAi should not be assumed safe until it is
proved dangerous, it should be presumed to kill anybody exposed to
it until it is proved safe.
RNAi-based interventions are a class of somewhat-related techniques
with very different levels of risk. Just as some antibiotics are
deadly poison to animals while others are quite safe, different kinds
of potential RNA-based interventions are known to present different
risks. It is not especially useful to generalize from a mouse
experiment, where high doses of shRNA are injected into mice in a
animal viral vector, to transgenic plums, where DNA (coding for a plant
viral gene) is introduced transgenically into the plum.
All these kinds of interventions (therapeutic and genetic) are special
cases, and the fact that they involve RNA does not make them hang
togther very well in terms of risk. RNAi cannot be "proved safe" as a
class, any more than one could prove safe "rock climbing" or
"antibiotic therapy" as classes. The devil is in the details.
I realize, and accept, that all transgenic approaches are anthema, in
principle, to you and a large segment of the organic farming community.
I am curious if RNA-based *therapeutic* approaches (non-transgenic)
Are also VERBOTEN to you and other organic purists. After all, RNA is
a natural product. If RNA-based therapeutic agents can be developed,
they might, in principle, be acceptable as organic amendments.
Dale
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com
********************************************************
To unsubscribe from SANET-MG:
1- Visit http://lists.sare.org/archives/sanet-mg.html to unsubscribe or;
2- Send a message to <listserv@sare.org> from the address subscribed to the list. Type "unsubscribe sanet-mg" in the body of the message.
Visit the SANET-MG archives at: http://lists.sare.org/archives/sanet-mg.html.
Questions? Visit http://www.sare.org/about/sanetFAQ.htm.
For more information on grants and other resources available through the SARE program, please visit http://www.sare.org.