Modifying the gene that makes a plant flower - finite vegetative state

[Fluss]

Just came across this, really interesting!

http://futuretimelin...tm#.UPAVOW_BEkS

Imagine the time it would take to make a baked potato!

I really like the fact that they can't reproduce and therefore not "contaminate" the natural plants gene pool.

Edited January 11, 2013 by Fluss

[Roopey]

But the flowers always have the most magic in the them! Tobacco flowers are particularly delicious and potent.

[Fluss]

Imagine the dollar signs on the tobacco company eyes...

[waterboy 2.0]

There is the always the potential with transgenic plants to have a virus infect and incorporate part of the host genome, replicate and infect another host carrying a potential coding sequence. Thats part of the russian roulette of such plants "in the field".

[Fluss]

There is the always the potential with transgenic plants to have a virus infect and incorporate part of the host genome, replicate and infect another host carrying a potential coding sequence. Thats part of the russian roulette of such plants "in the field".

 

Aaah, good point!

Thank's for enlightening me about that one, didn't thought of it at all!

In that case it would be catastrophic for the food chain, i bet ya a lot of new problems would appear as well.

[waterboy 2.0]

^ its a long shot "in the wild", but using vectors is damn good way to get code into plants.

The old tobacco gets hammered by a variety of viral pathogens. Was originally thinking of "improved" weeds - but thats ones hell of an issue if such traits got into agricultural mainstays. As a tool in the right time and place, and application this would be very useful indeed.

Bad enough GM Canola pollen has escaped in the wild, oh well at least some of the offspring may be Roundup ready.

[Yavimaya]

So they say that the flowering is "delayed", but they also say that thier first plant is eight years old, thats a massive delay for something that goes through its full cycle in a number of months.

I wonder if they are failing to tell us that they need to remodify the plant to get it to flower / ever die.

[whitewind]

Wow, an endless supply of hemp products wouldn't go amiss. Sounds like an interesting concept, amusing that tobacco scientists discovered it first.

To be honest, there will be production issues with every type of plant being grown; potatoes and Phytophthora, tobacco viruses - even long lived crops like this, if infected, will still die - and then there will be the issue of growing it again from germplasm, especially if the seed supply dries up. Things that are touted as the saviour of all mankind often make a small difference, for a time (and usually a profit for the creator to the detriment of everyone else) but longer term are fraught with difficulty.

Still, the more we learn about plants and genes and how they work the better, although I have serious doubts about their application in the field I find the science quite fascinating.