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Re: Glickman and Biotech
In article <VA.0000004e.00840a0a@wrcs.u-net.com> wrhite@cix.compulink.co.uk writes:
>In article <aquilla.1198387241L@news.erols.com> on Thu, 14 Nov 96
>19:26:41 GMT aquilla@erols.com (Tracy Aquilla) wrote:>
>
>> It is not possible to prove a negative, but in the absence of any
>> indication that GE foods aren't safe, of course it's reasonable to
>> assume that they are, just as we assume that new conventionally-bred
>> cultivars are safe, without testing them.
>
>But do you not see that you are begging a question - that these new
>species are FOOD?
>
>Quite specifically, can YOU stake your scientific reputation on an
>assertion that RR Soy is not a new transgenic SPECIES, part soy, part
>bacterium?
You mean, like in THE FLY? You get a creature that's half scientist,
half insect? Genetic engineering is FAR more mundane than that. You
start with an existing species and map its genes. Then you say,
"Gee, if I could have a chicken with small hens that layed lots of
eggs like a Leghorn, but had big males that made good fryers like a
Rock-Cornish hybrid, I'd really have something." Then you see if
you can express such a thing in the genetic code of the chicken.
If so, then it's probably possible to create such a chicken through
ordinary breeding, but it would probably take ten zillion dollars. So
what you want to do is patch the genetic code to get the same result.
Since you don't have a gene compiler, you can only cut and paste
existing genetic material. You go looking for a string match in
the genes of some organism or other. It doesn't matter which.
You paste the right string in the right part of the code. If the
organism "runs" properly after being compiled, you know you got it
right. A certain amount of testing is in order, but it's not as if
you have to retest the entire operating system every time you write
a device driver. You run regressions on the parts that interact
with the area you changed.
-- Robert
--
Robert Plamondon, President/Managing Editor, High-Tech Technical Writing, Inc.
36475 Norton Creek Road * Blodgett * Oregon * 97326
robert@plamondon.com * (541) 453-5841 * Fax: (541) 453-4139
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