Be Pal, help me with an assignment

[MrBumpy]

hey peoples, An assignment I need to do is to write 500 ( I Know, bloody short isn't it) words on the pros and cons of Genetically engineering plants and develop a conclusion on the subject.

Anywho, finding scientific information on this is pretty piss-easy, however, 10% of the mark is based on the originality of our article. so, I was thinking, instead of me just regurgitating what everyone else is going to be writing with the same sources from the same text books and internet articles, I was gonna ask you kind folk if you could post your opinions on the subjecy, what you think is good/bad about the issue, and why.

thanks to anyone who is willing to help. (This post only needs to be here until the due date which is the 14th).

-bumpy

[Darklight]

Four *comparatively* original points ( depending on where you're studying ) are:

a) That because the jury is out on GM foods at all levels ( a search at the TC list archives will reveal that the debate is still going on at a scientific level ) means that work be discontinued. We don't need to know that GM is bad in order to decide to concentrate on standard horticultural breeding methods- the fact that we know it may be potentially hazardous is significant. If you want the URL for the TC list archives do a search or email me Bumpy, sorry, I'm rilly tired

That the world production of food is sufficient to allow a good diet for all- distribution and politics stand in the way of universal human nutrition requirements, not crop yields

c) That the antibiotic or herbicide resistant genes, which are frequently added as a selectable item in TC ( which is how GM work is done ) pose a far greater potential hazard then the insertion of other deliberately selected genes ( such as those for cold tolerance ) and thus there is the potential for a sleeping hazard of which the general public is not aware

d) That products derived from GM sources ( ie secondary metabolites ) are as valid and useful a product as those which are derived from non-GM sources, however the parent cells should never be allowed to impact on the environment ( cells milked and destroyed at conclusion by high temp incineration ) thus allowing considered use of resources without environmental impact.

Someone mentioned something to me once about jumping genes, they were a geneticist ( I'm not ), genes inserted on a carrier that moves about through the chromosone- which could have a different effect each time depending on where they're placed within the chromosone- I didn't do any reading on this

I did a post on the proliferation of antibiotic resistant genes as a sleeper in GM tech some time ago. Monsanto or whoever they are today were trying to remove them post selection last I'd heard- no idea how that went . If i were awake I'd repeat all the stuff I said again, but do a search Bumpy and you might find it

Auxin will prolly have some interesting ideas too

night night

[Tripitaka]

Have just been researching for an assignment on Franz Kafka & the effect of his literature upon popular society, may be of help. An obscure reference but may be what you are looking for:

refering to Metamorphisis

The story, one of recurring nightmare modern nightmares is essentially about the insecurity of our priveliged status in the world, which depends on biological accident. When Gregeor mutates into another species, his family feels absolved from having to treat him humanely.

Ours is the age in which the over abundance of human beings first forced governments to think of people numerically, issuing them with passports, identity cards, tax codes, drivers licences. In modern times, the individual consists of the complimentary set of numbers which refer to him. This was another of the contemporary nightmares invented by Kafka, whose Joseph K. in Der Prozess & Das Schloss struggles against a buraecracy which accuses him of obscure irregularities. He needs a licence to exist.

The hybrids of man & beast created by the mad vivisector in his island of Dr Moreau, were amongst the first laboratory specimens of mutation & metamorphosis, we can se this today with the advent of stem technology & the moral issues of human cloning.

The composer Bartok returns the world to its beginnings, when matter was without form & void & we could not separate individual existences by identyfying the sounds they made; he reminded us that the world every evening reverts to that primal state. Between 1926 & 37 he assembled a cellular anthology of brief piano pieces which he called Mikrokosmis; the collection pays homage to lowlier life forms & the bodily music they emit- the exploratory whirr of "Buzzing" like a night noise overheard, or "from the diary of a fly", in which the insect sketches vagrant droning patterns in the air. Within a few seconds, these studies administer the same jolt to our anthropocentric complacency which Kafka achieved by casually remarking that George Samsa woke up one morning to find himself metamorphosed into a beetle.

Our arrival at technical mastery of the world is not a joyous conclusion to history but a symptom of the end. Human primacy depends on the pillaging of nature & the subjugation or slaughter of other species. Mankinds obituary may well be written by those exploited creatures, when they re-inherit the earth- by Maeterlinck's bees or Kafkas beetle; by Capeks newts, or the sex-mad butterflies, parasitical flies & militarized ants which overrun his Insect Play.

These are only in rough form, may be of help!

[Darklight]

I liked yours better Tripitaka I must be getting too serious in my old age

[Auxin]

Genetic engeneering of plants can be a good thing. Many asian babies would get sick and go blind because ordinary rice has a harmful protein in it. The genetic engeneers steped in and stoped the rice from producing that harmful protein, and they made the rice produce beta carotene. This 'golden rice' is now good for your vision!

GM plants can also be made to produce valuable drugs, for this they currently normally use animals or E. coli (the good kind) instead, but plants are much easier- no sterile bacterial culture, no damn cows, just plant a feild and watch the medicine grow.

Of course, like anything, it has its dangers.

Genetic engeneering is like a scalpel, in the hands of a fool it can only do damage. But in the hands of a well trained person it can save lives, but of course now and then even the well trained person can slip and do more harm than good.

Maby we have enough food now, but what about when we pass the population 10 billion mark?

Its not to far off.

Also what about space food? If (when) we build colonies in outer space we will need crops that produce a maximum of nutrition and oxygen with a minimum of space and water.

As with any advanced technology there is a initial fumbeling around stage. Thats where we are now. We can not yet write new genes, we can only find them. As the technology gets more advanced we will be able to properly engeneer plants to do many important functions and save many lives, but the technology cannot get more advanced if it is abandoned just because of a few mistakes, or even worse- because of simple fear. The first people to research radioactive materials died from it and many wanted to abandon research right then, but now radiation is used routinely in the worlds hospitals to save lives (not to mention in dentists offices to save teeth, in airports to stop bombs, etc.)

[Tripitaka]

Ahh the eternal enigma of age hay Darklight!

Have not had the chance to search for any of Bartok's compositions, however sounds fascinating, have some time later, so..

[coin]

kafka & bartok..was about to say thanks for the hmm edification...but wasn't it you who wrote about bartok's compositions? *scratches head* or do i just need sleep..?

[Tripitaka]

Sorry Coin, was going to try & post a link to Bartok's music but can't find as yet.

[coin]

ahh..ignore my confusion

i have some works by bartok on cd, but they're fairly conventional...

i'll try to download mikrokosmos tho..i always had the impression that it was just a few books of piano studies..

so anyway, thanks a lot..i love these sort of leads

oops, and sorry bout messing this thread

[This message has been edited by coin (edited 13 June 2002).]