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[SANET-MG] hierarchical metabolomics a public relations dream



I understand, from reading the entire report, that genetic modification to enhance inulin fructan production in potato resulted in unforeseen metabolic changes that differed between GM and parental lines but those changes were comparable to the differences among cutlivars of potato. The paper concludes "The cultivar-based compositional heterogeneity we describe emphasizes the importance of comparison with a range of equivalent cultivars and not solely the parental line." What seems to be advocated is that when unexpected differences appear between parental lines and GM crops then just scoot over and find some potato cultivars that do show differences.

Published online before print September 26, 2005
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 10.1073/pnas.0503955102
Hierarchical metabolomics demonstrates substantial compositional similarity between genetically modified and conventional potato crops

Gareth S. Catchpole *, Manfred Beckmann , David P. Enot , Madhav Mondhe , Britta Zywicki *, Janet Taylor ¶, Nigel Hardy , Aileen Smith , Ross D. King , Douglas B. Kell ||, Oliver Fiehn *, and John Draper ** *Max Planck Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology, D-14424 Golm, Germany; and Institute of Biological Sciences and Department of Computer Science, University of Wales, Aberystwyth SY23 3DA, United Kingdom

There is current debate whether genetically modified (GM) plants might contain unexpected, potentially undesirable changes in overall metabolite composition. However, appropriate analytical technology and acceptable metrics of compositional similarity require development. We describe a comprehensive comparison of total metabolites in field-grown GM and conventional potato tubers using a hierarchical approach initiating with rapid metabolome "fingerprinting" to guide more detailed profiling of metabolites where significant differences are suspected. Central to this strategy are data analysis procedures able to generate validated, reproducible metrics of comparison from complex metabolome data. We show that, apart from targeted changes, these GM potatoes in this study appear substantially equivalent to traditional cultivars.

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