Polyploidal Plants

7 responses to “Polyploidal Plants”

1. 

   JeffSech

   Sep 3, 2009 at 4:36 am

   And it’s not considered a GMO.

   That seems pertinent. It looks like this process deserves some serious traction.

   And…on a related subject.

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2. 

   PhOtOnQuAnTiQuE

   Sep 3, 2009 at 4:58 am

   Interesting research.

   Now in a symmetric DNAway
   Reminded me of the minimal genome research.
   How much more sets of chromosomes could they add.

   "dodecaploid (twelve sets; 12x), for example the plant Celosia argentea and the amphibian Xenopus ruwenzoriensis"

   Impressive…

   "And it’s not considered a GMO." Spooky and cool at the same time =)

   Reply
3. 

   mikescottnz

   Sep 3, 2009 at 6:22 am

   More a macro gmo ? The pro-gmo lobby often mimimises the obvious tampering or genetic engineering as the public are becoming more aware of this use of biotechnology as we get more euphemistic terms such as its only hybridising or a small ‘modification’ itself.

   With Israeli entrepenurial science this might be worth being more cautious , sceptical or scrutinising as ‘salinity’ has been a rationale to genetically engineer plants for a while.This is the nation that long jailed their own scientist Mordechai Vanunu who was a whistleblower on their covert nuclear ambitions and tests.

   The ususal hype or claims for ‘higher yields’ would need real checking as would food safety concerns.

   Why is this ‘field trial’ not better contained?

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4. 

   TomiTapio

   Sep 3, 2009 at 11:45 am

   It’s not a GMO if it was created by selecting one plant out of a million crossbreedings.

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5. 

   PhOtOnQuAnTiQuE

   Sep 3, 2009 at 1:23 pm

   Interesting questions and idea Eppie.
   I like the "back to the ocean".
   You may like this new TED talk :
   Cary Fowler: One seed at a time, protecting the future of food

   Reply
6. 

   jurvetson

   Sep 3, 2009 at 3:24 pm

   Eppie: very nice visual… I will include it here:
   

   cxJeff: mammals with multiple mamas is underway in Korea. The cloned dogs I have played with are very cute (3 moms, no dad):

   

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7. 

   mikescottnz

   Sep 4, 2009 at 5:11 am

   I remain unconvinced there’s no gmo exploitation in this context. It’s a greenwash or selling point to convince us there’s ‘no gmo’ now ?

   Climate change is now accepted even by the pro-gmo lobby it is ironically being used by often these same minds (who recently doubted it so much ) to ‘save us all’, once again the refrain, with genetic engineering since other rationales are exhausted.Soil salinity too can be dealt with without gmos.

   The TED conference clip of Cary Fowler is a good, plausible sounding opposite* approach to the recent industrial agriculture that the Pioneer/Dupont or Monsantos espouse.They do seem try to control seeds hence why seed banks profiles are higher now; that the first two companies have a stake in this project could be cause for a concern .The Svalbard Global Seed Vault (or Doomsday Vault) is sounds a noble or ‘nice’ idea in a frozen north of Norway location.

   Seed saving has occurred in indigenous communitues for millennia the Monsanto et al ‘get rich’ idea was the ‘terminator’ *seed idea or to buy up the seed banks and water companies .That is why Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser’s long challenge and recent victory over Monsanto with Canola/Rapeseed was an ethical and environmental issue. It is important that the seeds/ life forms are preserved not ‘owned’ by these dubious interests or companies ; so it does sound a good initiative from the Norwegian government. It will need trust and integrity to work , given the damage done by these corporations in the last twenty years.

   Reply