"?" wrote in message
rg...
On Mon, 21 Nov 2005 07:05:13 -0500 in
Kenni Judd
wrote:
Well, they _could_, but they shouldn't. I can't imagine a workable
enforcement system, though. Kenni

Genetic database and have as a requisite to entry a plant sample
sufficient to undergo gene sequencing.
The trick is getting the price and size down on the equipment.
But I bet that the anti genetically modified food crops crowd could
be talked into funding cheaper portable equipment for that.

Chris,

What equipment are you talking about? That required in a gene sequencing
lab? I'd expect that most respectable universities, and many of the better
community colleges, would have suitable equipment, and that they would
appreciate whatever revenue would come in from providing sequencing
services. I can't imagine doing DNA fingerprinting with portable equipment,
though. I'd imagine the risk of contamination of the samples would be
insurmountable outside a properly run lab. There is an additional benefit
in that DNA fingerprinting may provide a way to identify NOIDs. I am sure
that with a little thought and creativity other applications may be found.

You say the anti-genetically modified food crops crowd might be interested.
I'd suggest that a larger, better established crowd, that involved in
traditional agriculture focussed on breeding, would be interested. There
have been farmers here who have been sued by such breeders because hybrids
containing genes from the company's hybrids were found on the farmer's land.
That struck me as unfair because it is almost certain that the hybrids for
which the farmer was sued was airborne, and carried from a neighbor's crop.
I don't know how a farmer is supposed to protect his crop from airborne
pollen from a neighbor's patented crop. Anyway, these breeders are often
huge corporations and I'd expect would have as much interest, or more, in
this than the anti-genetically modified food crop crowd.

The only other need is for suitable computer hardware and software. This
hardware is not a problem, thanks to the countless kids who use computers
for games and other multimedia applications. This hardware is very
inexpensive in large measure because of the size of the computer gaming
market, and that hardware is just about perfect for this kind of
application. You can get a desktop, or even a laptop, that will serve the
purpose for less than US$1,000. Of course, you can pay more if you want
faster answers, but if you can wait an extra second or three, you don't need
to spend the extra money. The biggest challenge would be to get an
appropriate application developed. It should be both centralized and
distributed; and yes, it is possible to do both. Some of my applications
are designed specifically to do this. A centralized database component is
required, with an assortment of mirrors scattered around the world, for
obvious reasons, but it needs to be accessable by client applets from any
location that has Internet access, again for obvious reasons. Good luck
finding a software developer with the competence to do this right. There
are outstanding developers out there, but there are a great many more that
are barely qualified for an entry level position. Compounding this is the
fact that some of the software technology required is relatively new and
rarely used (I am thinking here particularly of the distributed interface
and software security techniques required to ensure the application can't be
used by cyber-criminals for some kind of crime); so finding people who know
how to use it will be problematic. As you will recall, I am working on such
an application as time allows, but it will take many many years for it to
appear unless I magically receive sufficient funds to hire a few programmers
whom I can teach how to do it right, and to buy the requisite servers and
broadband Internet access.

Cheers,

Ted

--
R.E. (Ted) Byers, Ph.D., Ed.D.
R & D Decision Support Solutions
http://www.randddecisionsupportsolutions.com/
Healthy Living Through Informed Decision Making