I'm not sure the gene forensics is that simple. With humans, we know what segments to check on a PCR and where to find markers. On plants however, I think it might be a little more complicated than a piece of cake.
Maybe we should direct this question to Ken Cameron? Steve K> Peter beat me to it. I remind everyone that this year 'Orchids' published K> an article delineating Pk's DNA analysis, the analysis was done expressly K> for forensic purposes. K> K Barrett K> N Calif, USA >>Several people have claimed that once "legal" P. kovachii seedlings go >>on general release in the outside world, those who own "illegal" >>plants will be able to let them (or their progeny) surface without >>fear of detection. >> >>That statement is incorrect. We have been told that Manuel Arias has >>only five legally-collected plants, each of which has been identified >>by a name, and that these names are on record as being the parents of >>any particular legally-exported flask. In order to be able to trace >>all legal progeny of these 5 plants, all the Peruvians have to do is >>subject the one leaf from each of the 5 parent plants to a simple >>DNA-typing procedure, placing the results on record, and store the >>surplus DNA in a fridge. >> >>Demonstrating that any individual plant (or seedling) was NOT the >>progeny of a cross between two of these 5 plants would then be a piece >>of cake.... the sort of procedure that a competent technician could do >>in a well-stocked lab. This procedure has become routine in >>child-support and child-custody disputes since the test became cheap >>enough to be affordable. >> >>If the Peruvian authorities (or anyone else) wanted to demonstrate the >>illegality of an individual plant, they could do so, and will be in a >>position to do so for generations to come. The real question is, will >>they want to ? >> >>Cheers, >>Peter O'Byrne >>in Singapore K> _________________________________________________________________ K> FREE pop-up blocking with the new MSN Toolbar � get it now! K> http://toolbar.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200415ave/direct/01/ K> _______________________________________________ K> the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) K> [email protected] K> http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
