Re: Switzerland backs GM crop ban

On 1/12/05 8:56, in article mnbto1tu1gck3114ineh9761ihgulco8ec@xxxxxxx, "Tim
C." <timothy.challenger@xxxxxx> wrote:

>> Most seed stock cost money, and hybridized cost even more.
>
> Not if the seed is kept back from the last crop.


The GM people thought of that. They are called "terminators"
they produce infertile seeds.

But not to worry.

Earl


******


New Terminator Crops Coming

Gaining control over seed production using ?terminator¹ genetic modification
has become a goal of genetic engineers. Prof. Joe Cummins and Dr. Mae-Wan Ho
alert us to some new tricks in the pipelines, and the lies perpetrated to
mislead the public.

The complete document with references, is available in the ISIS members
site. Full details here

Engineering seed control can guaranteed patent protection over a particular
crop and help to prevent transgene escape and contamination of non-GM crops,
at least in theory. Controlling pollen fertility also allows the development
of hybrid seeds that may have ?hybrid vigor¹ (heterosis) over non-hybrids,
again, at least in theory.

We have reviewed many ?terminator¹ systems [1-5], genetic modifications that
produce crops with infertile seeds or inactive pollen, and warned of the
problems and hazards involved. But development of such systems continues
apace, as GM proponents and governments alike have been
promoting them as means of preventing or restricting transgene escape, which
is highly misleading.

One system under development involves regulating a nuclear gene in oilseed
rape ( Brassica rapa ) that controls pollen development. The gene Br DAD1
encodes an enzyme that catalyzes the first step in the synthesis of jasmonic
acid, a growth-regulator. The absence of jasmonic acid leads to inviable
pollen. The Br DAD1 gene is down-regulated with an anti-sense gene to Br
DAD1 .

This system facilitates the production of hybrid seeds by seed companies.
The hybrid, sold to farmers, will definitely contain the anti-sense
transgene as well as antibiotic resistance marker gene(s) used in making the
GM plant, so there is no transgene containment at all.

For perpetuating the GM line, the down-regulated plant can be restored to
fertility with a timely spray of jasmonic acid [6], a registered plant
growth-regulator. So, after spraying, the plant will again be spreading the
anti-sense transgene and antibiotic resistance marker gene(s).

The other problem is that the anti-sense Br DAD1 gene is at a locus separate
from BrDAD1 . Hence, the fertility of the crop will also be influenced by
recombination and segregation.

A second newly developed system for controlling seed production is more
similar to the original terminator system. It involves a repressible
seed-lethal system designed to prevent novel transgenic traits from
spreading.

The system starts with a GM plant hemizygous - carrying a single copy of a
gene on one of a pair of chromosomes - for a seed-lethal gene cassette
tightly linked to the transgene coding for the novel trait ( SN/- ). This is
crossed with a plant homozygous - carrying two copies of a gene, one on each
of a pair of chromosomes - for a repressor Rthat can turn off the
seed-lethal gene ( R/R ).

If SN and Rare each on one of the same pair of chromosomes, the resulting F1
hybrid will be seed-fertile, though half of the offspring is SN/R and the
other half - /R . However, if selection is applied to select for the novel
trait ­ which may be tolerance to a particular herbicide - only SN/R plants
will survive. In practice, a farmer will have to sow twice as many seeds to
achieve the density of plants required.

If the F1 plants ( SN/R ) is self-pollinated, half of the F2 plants will be
SN/R , one quarter will be SN/SN and one quarter R/R . Applying the
selection for the novel trait will leave only the first two types of plants.
If replanted, then one third of the seeds will be sterile.

In addition, both the SN/R plants and SN/SN plants will still produce
pollen, which can cross-pollinate with non-GM varieties . Presence of the SN
construct in the contaminated seed will result in failure to germinate,
thereby terminating the contamination if grown in the field. But those
contaminated with Rwill still be fertile. Thus, non-transgenic crops will
still be contaminated, and in addition, the germination rate of the
non-transgenic seeds will also be compromised.

If genetic recombination has occurred in the F1 plants so that SN and Rend
up on the same chromosome, then the contamination of non-transgenic crops
will be much more extensive and will perpetuate. Thus, this containment
system, too, is worse than useless.

Seed-sterility has been created using Agrobacterium tumefaciens genes to
overproduce the plant hormone indole acetic acid (IAA or auxin) by a pathway
not normally found in plants [7]. Plants have two other pathways to convert
tryptophan to IAA [8], and the seed containment system
introduces a third.

Introducing genes and pathways that cause accumulation of tryptophan or its
metabolites in the seeds or tissues of crop plants deserves special safety
considerations. Such crops cannot be deemed "substantially equivalent"
without extensive testing on animals and human volunteers. Tryptophan
produced in a genetically modified bacterium was linked to an epidemic
called eosinophilia myalgia syndrome in 1989. Thousands were permanently
injured and one or more impurities were thought to be responsible for the
illness [9]. Elevated levels of 5-hydroxy IAA, a brain indole, were found
in patients dying from liver injury [10], and are associated with cell
injury in mammals.

It is clear that these new terminator technologies cannot prevent transgenes
from spreading, while their safety is questionable. They serve no other
purposes than to exert control over seed production - forcing farmers to buy
hybrid seeds that cannot be replanted - and to protect patented
traits.



.

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