Comment Re:humility, what's that? (Score 1) 224
Yes, we do have a solid grasp of genome dynamics - especially for for modification of food crops. In fact, scientist use naturally occurring processes to insert genes into plants. One of the best and most stable way of introducing genes into plants is using a bacteria Agrobacterium to insert genes into plant cells. Agrobacterium, along with other genera of bacteria, have long been inserting DNA into the genomes of various plant species. Also, in North America alone there has been the destruction of over 250 million acres of native ecosystems to plant things like corn, soybean, wheat note: that none of these plants are native to the US and all have been subjected to artificial selection (genetic modification) for thousands of years. Genetic engineering of crops has only brought in a small number well tested genes into food crops. Finally, horizontal gene transfer (the movement of genes between two different species, usually large taxonomic differences) is somewhat common in plants http://jxb.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract /58/1/1
Also, horizontal gene transfer is common in other photosynthetic organisms such as Dinoflagellates....
So yes, we have a good understanding of gene transfer technologies and the general biology of gene transfer both in nature and in the lab. Yes, there are likely to be even more exciting results as more genomes are sequenced.
The question is what genes do we use to genetically engineer organisms? How far do we want to modify food versus say energy crops? Who owns or controls the production of these crops? It is important not to fear the technology but understand the technology and understand that genetic engineering helps scientist understand basic plant biology and can be beneficial both for humans and if done right for the environment (less use of land for crops, less use of insecticides and fungicides which leech into streams...).
Also, horizontal gene transfer is common in other photosynthetic organisms such as Dinoflagellates....
So yes, we have a good understanding of gene transfer technologies and the general biology of gene transfer both in nature and in the lab. Yes, there are likely to be even more exciting results as more genomes are sequenced.
The question is what genes do we use to genetically engineer organisms? How far do we want to modify food versus say energy crops? Who owns or controls the production of these crops? It is important not to fear the technology but understand the technology and understand that genetic engineering helps scientist understand basic plant biology and can be beneficial both for humans and if done right for the environment (less use of land for crops, less use of insecticides and fungicides which leech into streams...).
