Keith, The postings interesting; especially the writings of Professor Emeritus Joe Cummins. See earlier work at: http://www.mindfully.org/GE/Plant-Pesticides-Joe-Cummins.htm
Last week, I took the liberty to contact Professor Cummins to ask permission to quote his work on my JTF posting titles "Overview of GMO Risks - CaMV35S promotor...". He give me permission and also impressed with JTF website. He encouraged all of us to continue studying the issues and risks of GMO plants and GMO germplasm. I plan to give an informal PowerPoint at my local library. I think I now understand after reading many of the articles and research posted on various public domains. --- Keith Addison <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > The Institute of Science in Society > > Science Society Sustainability > http://www.i-sis.org.uk > > ISIS Press Release 20/01/05 > > GM Cotton that People Forgot > > GM cotton has aroused relatively little resistance > outside the Third > World for the simple reason that it is wrongly > perceived to be a > non-food crop. <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>Prof. Joe > Cummins and > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>Dr. Mae-Wan Ho report > > A longer, <http://www.i- > sis.org.uk/full/GMCTPFFull.php>fully referenced > version is posted on > ISIS members' website. <http://www.i- > sis.org.uk/membership.php>Details here. > > GM cotton a triple-threat > > Cotton is a triple-treat (or threat) crop because it > produces fibre, > food and feed. Fibre is recovered from the flower > bolls, while the > seeds are pressed to yield oil for the kitchen and > cake for animal > feed. Monsanto Corporation has been a major source > of genetically > modified (GM) cotton lines. > > Bollgard cotton > > A line called Bollgard was first marketed in the > United States in > 1995, followed in later years by Canada, Australia, > China, Argentina, > Japan, Mexico, South Africa, India and the > Philippines. In 2002, an > enhanced line called Bollgard II was approved in the > United States, > Canada, Australia, Japan and the Philippines. > > Bollgard II was made from Bollgard simply by > inserting into the plant > cells a gene cassette containing a Bacillus > thuringiensis (Bt) toxin, > Cry2Ab, different from the one in the original > Bollgard, Cry1Ac. From > the transformed cells, a line containing the two > different Bt toxin > genes were selected. Two toxin genes were more than > twice as > effective in pest control than the original Bollgard > and > theoretically, far less likely to allow insect > resistant mutants to > evolve. > > The Bt toxin genes, unlinked, are reported to be > driven by different > versions of the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S > promoter: that of > crylAc has a duplicated enhancer, while that of > cry2Ab has the > enhancer and also the leader sequence from petunia > heat shock 70 gene > as an extra booster. CrylAc is accompanied by the > kanamycin > resistance marker gene, nptII, while cry2Ab is > accompanied by the > marker gene uidA that produces a staining reaction. > CrylAc confers > resistance to lepidopteran-insects in general, and > cotton bollworm, > tobacco budworm, and pink bollworm, in particular. > Upon ingestion of > this protein by susceptible insects, feeding is > inhibited, eventually > resulting in death. > > The Bt toxin genes are both synthetic versions of > the natural genes > in the soil bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis var. > kurstaki, with > coding sequences modified to improve expression in > plants. The > synthetic genes have not been subject to evolution > and their > recombinational and other properties relevant to > safety are unknown > and untested. > > Thus, Bolgard II has two separate transgene > insertions with some > regions of DNA homology (similarity). Such regions > could act as > recombination signals for somatic or meiotic > recombination, leading > to drastic chromosome rearrangements. The claim to > genetic stability > reported in the governmental reviews is simply the > finding that the > insertions segregate according to Mendelian ratios > in a few crosses > and does not consider molecular and chromosomal > instability > associated with inter- and intra-chromosomal > recombination at sites > of DNA homology. Signs of instability and other > failures have been > observed in the field (see "<http://www.i- > sis.org.uk/AAGMC.php>Australia adopts GM cotton" and > > "<http://www.i-sis.org.uk/GMCFATW.php>GM cotton > fiascos around the > world", this series). > > Seed distribution is controlled by the licenses of > the patentee, and > seed lines can, and should be screened at that point > for > translations, duplications or deficiencies resulting > from intra- and > inter chromosomal recombination. > > Furthermore, in evaluating safety to humans and the > environment, the > toxin proteins are frequently isolated from liquid > culture of the > bacteria to avoid having to carry out the more > expensive isolation of > the toxins from cotton plants. As the toxin > transgenes are synthetic > approximations of the natural genes and the toxin > proteins are not > identical, the test results with bacterial proteins > do not truly > represent the impact of the toxins from the > transgenic cotton plants. > > Some feeding studies indicated that Bollgard II > cotton controlled > insect pests more effectively. One research group > predicted that the > need for supplemental insecticides would be reduced > or eliminated for > lepidopteran pests. Another research group > indicated, however, that > insect-resistance to Bollgard II could best be > controlled with an > overspray of chemical insecticide. Further studies > showed that > resistance to the two Cry toxins seemed to evolve > simultaneously, > raising considerable doubt over the efficacy of gene > stacking in > delaying insect resistance. Studies reported by > researchers from > Monsanto Corporation showed that the Cry1Ac toxin > and the Cry2Ab > toxin were produced in equivalent amounts in > Bollgard II, but that > Cry2Ab was the larger contributor to insect > toxicity, and they > suggested a relatively simple resistance monitoring > policy. It seems > likely that chemical pesticides will be needed to > combat insect > resistance arising in Bollgard II after all (see > "<http://www.i- > sis.org.uk/AAGMC.php>Australia adopts GM cotton", > this series). > > The regulation of Bollgard II has been ‘fast and > loose'. Bollgard II > was supposed to address the major concern of > resistance management, > but research is already indicating that gene > stacking is not a > panacea and that chemical pesticide overspray will > be required to > cope with developing resistance. > > Round up Ready Cotton > > Roundup Ready cotton, like Bollgard I and II, is > also used for fibre, > food and feed. Roundup Ready (rr cotton) was first > marketed in the > United States in 1995, and in later years, in > Canada, Japan, > Argentina, South Africa, Australia, the Philippines > and in 2004, in > China. > > The herbicide tolerant cotton marketed as rr cotton > was === message truncated === __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://wwia.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/biofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel archives at Infoarchive.net (searchable): http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/
