Subject: | |
From: | |
Reply To: | |
Date: | Wed, 17 Feb 2010 20:31:05 -0500 |
Content-Type: | text/plain |
Parts/Attachments: |
|
|
In posting this it is my aim to present a more moderated assessment of what GM plants are and what effect they could have on bees and beekeepers. The procedure of gene manipulation is not inherently wrong, although there is a potential for great blunders, as with any advanced technology. The idea that nature does not move genes from organism to organism, by the way, has been proven to be false. A fairly large portion of the human genome appears to have been modified by viruses. Viruses and other organisms have methods of modifying host DNA.
> Results from tests with bees and transgene products so far suggest that direct effects of transgenic plants on honey bees and bumblebees will depend largely upon the type of transgene and the biological activity of the protein it encodes. Thus proteins such as lepidopteran-specific Bt toxins and glucan-degrading enzymes are extremely unlikely to affect bees.
> Proteins that target more general aspects of insect biology, such as protease inhibitors or chitinases, are more likely to have effects on bees. In these cases, the dosage of transgene product ingested by the bee is very likely to determine the extent of such effects, if any.
Effects of transgene products on honey bees (Apis mellifera) and bumblebees (Bombus sp.) by Louise A. MALONE
Horticulture and Food Research Institute of New Zealand
Apidologie 32 (2001)
***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html
Access BEE-L directly at:
http://community.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-LSOFTDONATIONS.exe?A0=BEE-L
|
|
|