A thought in reference to the news below on transgenic pollen:
Labeling of genetically manipulated crops will become more and more
difficult and controlled distribution of the genetic material quite
difficult, independent of whether it is a health hazard or not. Considering
that bees will be able to pick up this pollen, even honey from areas in
which these plants are grown would have to be labeled as containing
genetically manipulated material!
Since pollen can be carried for not just a few miles but hundreds of miles
with the right air currents, and is found in lakes and rivers, is there a
limit? What a great idea! Apart from producing a sellable technique, did
anybody think about the possible consequences?
With labeling control and controlled distribution just about becoming
impossible where will be our rights of free choice (between transgenic food,
organic food, pesticide or hormone etc. treated food, additives etc.) and
for reduced rather than increased pollution.
Will nobody put a barrier or limits to the new green revolution - so it does
not become a repetition of the last one, only with new toys? The continuing
acceptance of transgenic plants for food cited by the Senior Vice President
of BTG has still to be shown on a significant scale unless he is referring
to only a small group of vested interest. Has there been an acceptance that
could be continued other than the one by those who are to gain from
transgenic sales or who have to recuperate their multi-billion dollar
investments? The international BST "conflicts" as example only show that
the patent or license owner (Monsanto) and major political powers (the US,
also UK) are the ones who decide or at least try to decide what is and what
is not acceptable or more precisely, whether consumers have to be informed
so they can make their own choices. Considering however the multi-billion
dollar investments in this field and who made the investments it is likely
to be just a question of marketing and politics on how widely "acceptance
will continue".
This is just some food for thought; but let's keep the food for our minds at
least cleaner than the one we use for our bodies.
Greetings
Rainer Krell
---------------------
Forwarded message:
Subj: US Patent Granted for Novel Method to Produce Transgenic Plants
Date: 97-07-11 07:50:14 EDT
From: AOL News
GULPH MILLS, Pa., July 11 /PRNewswire/ -- BTG, an international
technology
licensing company, announced today that the United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA) has received a US Patent (No. 5,629,183) entitled Plant
Transformation by Gene Transfer into Pollen. Commercialization rights to
this technology were acquired by BTG USA Inc. from the USDA in 1993, along
with two additional agribusiness technologies.
The patent relates to a method for producing transgenic plants
which uses electroporation to introduce foreign genes into pollen.
Transgenic plants are then produced from seeds formed after fertilization
with electroporated pollen.
As a result of working together with the USDA, BTG was able to
provide funding to further develop the technology, which in turn resulted in
this broad patent covering a full range of plant species including both
monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous plants. The technology, developed by
Dr. James A. Saunders and Dr. Benjamin Matthews, Agriculture Research
Service (ARS), USDA, Beltsville, MD, has been demonstrated in several crops
including tobacco, alfalfa and corn.
Pollen electrotransformation offers the promise of a convenient,
economical and, thus, commercially valuable procedure for rapidly producing
genetically engineered plants.
There are numerous potential advantages in using pollen. Because
transformed seeds are obtained directly from the plant, no protoplast or
tissue culture is involved. Since plants are directly obtained from seed,
it is less likely that vigor and fertility will be compromised as compared
with transformed plants obtained through regeneration from protoplasts. The
risk of tissue culture induced variation is also minimized.
The technology has already been licensed by BTG USA Inc. to
Sanford
Scientific, Inc. for exclusive use in the field of ornamental plants, and
several commercial evaluations of the technology are underway in a variety
of plant species with potential licensees. BTG will license the patent
rights to the invention to additional companies in the agribusiness
industry.
Dr. Richard D. Gill, Senior Vice President and General Manager,
BTG
USA Inc. said, "We are delighted that the USDA has received such a broad
patent covering the use of pollen electrotransformation to produce
transgenic plants. With the continuing acceptance and demonstration of
increased benefits in
transgenic plants, we feel that the development of this technology could
have
a tremendous impact on the ongoing improvement of economically important
crops and plants."
SOURCE BTG USA Inc.
CO: BTG plc; BTG USA Inc.; United States Department of Agriculture
ST: Pennsylvania
IN: AGR MTC
SU:
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