Dicky wrote:

In addition, If i want to study in this type of research, what universities
can i enter? And what is the subject for that, Horticulture? Biochem? ....
etc. Also, should i learn Genetics?


If you are thinking about studying in the US, pick one of the big
state universities that specializes in agricultural research. Michigan
State, for example. The reason for this is that gene transformation in
plants often requires very expensive equipment (gold particle guns,
etc.), which may not be available at a smaller school. There are
several oriental institutions that have substantial orchid research
departments (in China, Taiwan, and Japan, for sure). I would study
biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology. All three. You need all
that to even start with the project you propose. It isn't impossible,
in fact it is quite possible, but there are substantial barriers in the way.


1. The genes for pigment formation have not been sequenced in paphs (or
any orchid that I know of). You can get a good idea from other plants
(arabidopsis) where these pathways are reasonably well understood, but
you would still need to clone out the orchid genes.


2. You could make alba orchids fairly readily by disrupting pigment
synthesis. I'm not that familiar with the literature, but I don't know
of anybody who has done that yet. It has always been a little pet
project of mine, actually. Project in the sense that I have been
thinking about how to do it, not in that I've actually tried.


3. I did see a paper recently about introducing foreign DNA into ...
cymbidium? ... Problem was that it was a transient transfection -
meaning the DNA wasn't stably integrated into the target organism. You
really want your genetic manipulations to be permanent. I think that
has been demonstrated, I just haven't seen the paper.


4. The major barrier to doing this with paphiopedilum is that it is
very difficult to grow these cells in tissue culture. Otherwise we
would be able to 'clone' paphs, which just doesn't happen very easily.
Hence, paphs aren't the best system to learn how to do genetic
modifications in. I'd stick with phals or cymbidiums, at least to learn
the techniques.


Don't let any of that stop you from dreaming about doing it. It isn't
easy, and it isn't cheap. But it is interesting. You could make a very
good scientific career out of answering the kinds of questions you ask.

Rob

--
Rob's Rules: http://www.msu.edu/~halgren

1) There is always room for one more orchid
2) There is always room for two more orchids
2a. See rule 1
3) When one has insufficient credit to purchase
more orchids, obtain more credit