Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Welcome to Natural Hazards Forum. We hope you enjoy your visit.


You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.


Join our community!


If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
'Safer GMOs' made by US scientists
Topic Started: 22 Jan 2015, 12:31 AM (40 Views)
skibboy
Member Avatar

21 January 2015

'Safer GMOs' made by US scientists

By Helen Briggs
Environment correspondent, BBC News

Posted Image

US scientists say they have taken the first step towards making "safer" GMOs that cannot spread in the wild using synthetic biology.

They have re-written the genetic code of bacteria to use only synthetic chemicals to grow.

The GM bacteria would die if they escaped into nature.

The research, published in Nature, is proof of concept for a new generation of GMOs, including plants, say Harvard and Yale university experts.

Genetically engineered micro-organisms are used in Europe, the US and China to produce drugs or fuels under contained industrial conditions.

Scientists want to build in safety measures so that their spread could be controlled if they were ever used in the outside world, perhaps to mop up oil spills or to improve human health.

"What we've done is engineered organisms so that they require synthetic amino acids for survival or for life," Prof Farren Isaacs of Yale University, who led one of two studies, told BBC News.

He said the future challenge was to re-engineer the code of other lifeforms.

"What we're seeing here is an important proof of concept that re-coding genomes and engineering dependence on synthetic amino acids is technically feasible in not just E coli but other micro-organisms and multicellular organisms such as plants."

Containment

GMOs have a number of potential practical uses, including the production of drugs and fuels, and removing pollutants from contaminated areas.

However, strict containment measures would be needed to use them in open spaces to stop them spreading in the wild.

The US researchers describe their research, published in Nature journal, as a "milestone" in synthetic biology.

Prof George Church of Harvard Medical School, who led the other study, said in order to protect natural ecosystems and address public concern the scientific community needed to develop robust biocontainment mechanisms for GMOs.

"This work provides a foundation for safer GMOs that are isolated from natural ecosystems by a reliance on synthetic metabolites."

Posted Image
Maize: The research may have applications in plants, say the scientists

In both studies, the organisms cannot use alternative nutrients when synthetic amino acids are unavailable.

They are also less likely to pass on their genes to other micro-organisms.

Ethics

Commenting on the study, Prof Huw Jones of Rothamsted Research in Hertfordshire, which carries out research on GM plants, said these were research-stage ideas to prevent the unintended spread of GM microbes from contained industrial units.

"I can see no need for this in crop plants that are anyway risk-assessed and approved for field cultivation, and use in food and feed," he said.

Prof Julian Savulescu, an ethicist at the University of Oxford, said the research would make GMOs and synthetic organisms safer as they would need to be fed special food (synthetic amino acids) to survive.

"But you can never remove all risk," he added. "There is still the very small chance of some natural event enabling them to change so as to be able to survive in the wild."

John Love, professor of Synthetic Biology at the University of Exeter, said it raised a lot of issues for society.

"It's a great technological leap but peripheral issues would need to be addressed to allay potential public concerns."

Source: Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
« Previous Topic · Science & Nature · Next Topic »
Add Reply

Skin by OverTheBelow