In article , Tsu Dho Nimh
wrote:

"Perrenelle" wrote:

Please help out a researcher studying useful applications of transgenic
plants by answering three simple questions below.

The reason behind this questionnaire is to determine whether genetically
modified household and garden plants would be accepted by gardeners. Please
reply either to the newsgroup or to me directly.

Would you purchase the following genetically modified plants? Assume that
the price of the plant was reasonable. Please specify which you would be
interested in, if any.

How about a truly RED iris?

Tsu

How about flowers with plaid blooms, keyed to specific family tartans.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/

"Tim" wrote in message
newspro39tyx0wxhha1@localhost...
On Tue, 13 May 2003 08:18:48 -0700, paghat
wrote:

In article , "Kat"
wrote:

Absolutely yes, to all. And please add to the list blue angel trumpets
and
winter tomatoes?

No, no -- transgenic EVERGREEN tomatos that produce cherry tomatoes in
the
window all year round AND have gigantic blue clematis blooms to boot!


YES !
Tim.

Yes! (silly me, to think only of fresh vine ripened winter tomatoes!) And
Let them smell of jasmine or/and honeysuckle!

"Perrenelle" wrote in message ...
Please help out a researcher studying useful applications of transgenic
plants by answering three simple questions below.

The reason behind this questionnaire is to determine whether genetically
modified household and garden plants would be accepted by gardeners.
Please
reply either to the newsgroup or to me directly.

Would you purchase the following genetically modified plants? Assume that
the price of the plant was reasonable. Please specify which you would be
interested in, if any.

1. A flowering houseplant (for example a scented geranium) modified to
produce three times more aroma than regular flowers.
I would buy
I would not buy it

2. A transgenic indoor ivy that removed toxic chemicals from household air
100 times better than regular plants.
I would buy
I would not buy it

3. A genetically modified blue rose.
I would buy
I would not buy it

4. A transgenic houseplant that efficiently removed odors such as hydrogen
sulfide from the air.
I would buy
I would not buy it

Thanks for your help!


I would be interested BUT only if these plants were also made sterile, as
all GM plants should be. (yes it precludes any fruiting plants)
Sweetcorn has to be the most dangerous plant to try GM on and is an
indication of the stupidity of the scientists/bean counters involved.
With sterility there is no chance of a cross escaping into the real world.
The thought that it may be my plant that contaminates the world is
horrendous.

--
Bob

www.pooleygreengrowers.org.uk/ about an Allotment site in
Runnymede fighting for it's existence.

"paghat" wrote in message
news
How about flowers with plaid blooms, keyed to specific family tartans.

Or plants that have been crossed with fireflies that produce flowers that
glow in the dark.

"Perrenelle" wrote in message
news:TWXva.824960$L1.238840@sccrnsc02...
Please help out a researcher studying useful applications of transgenic
plants by answering three simple questions below.

snip
What does 'transgenic' mean?

Also, in these hypothetical situations;
*What means of genetic modification were used?
*Were genes added or removed?
*If added, what was the original source?
*If added, do these genes occur in other species as well?
*If added, what known issues (if any) have been associated with these genes?
*What testing has been conducted on the plants?
*Are the plants fertile?
*Will the plants breed true?

Hard to make an informed choice without knowing the answers.

--
Tumbleweed

Remove my socks before replying (but no email reply necessary to newsgroups)

On Tue, 13 May 2003 01:32:35 GMT, "Perrenelle"
wrote:

Please help out a researcher studying useful applications of transgenic
plants by answering three simple questions below.


Would you purchase the following genetically modified plants?

Nope. Not under any circumstances.

Be quite happy to buy seeds of 'old varieties' though, assuming they
could be made readily available.

Regards,



--
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
http://www.shwoodwind.co.uk
Emails to: showard{who is at}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk

In article , "Vox Humana"
wrote:

"paghat" wrote in message
news
How about flowers with plaid blooms, keyed to specific family tartans.

Or plants that have been crossed with fireflies that produce flowers that
glow in the dark.

Aha, you must've seen the same article about the recombinant DNA
experiments that produced living glow-in-the-dark tobacco plants, &
glow-in-the-dark mice, by splicing in firefly genetic information!! Who
says science fiction can't happen?

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/

"paghat" wrote in message
news
In article , "Vox Humana"
wrote:

"paghat" wrote in message
news
How about flowers with plaid blooms, keyed to specific family tartans.

Or plants that have been crossed with fireflies that produce flowers
that
glow in the dark.

Aha, you must've seen the same article about the recombinant DNA
experiments that produced living glow-in-the-dark tobacco plants, &
glow-in-the-dark mice, by splicing in firefly genetic information!! Who
says science fiction can't happen?


I didn't see it, but I guess I have an active imagination! I can just see
entire lawns flashing out Morse Code and the religious fanatics who claim
that the plants are sending obscene messages that threaten the stability of
the nuclear family.

"paghat" wrote in message
news
In article , "Vox Humana"
wrote:

"paghat" wrote in message
news
How about flowers with plaid blooms, keyed to specific family tartans.

Or plants that have been crossed with fireflies that produce flowers
that
glow in the dark.

Aha, you must've seen the same article about the recombinant DNA
experiments that produced living glow-in-the-dark tobacco plants, &
glow-in-the-dark mice, by splicing in firefly genetic information!! Who
says science fiction can't happen?

-paghat the ratgirl

--
More often the genes of a glowing jellyfish are used, as in the potatoes
plant that has been created to glow in the dark when the field it is growing
in needs water. The potatoe itself is non-edible, but is used as a marker
beacon to tell farmers not to water the field yet. They have also already
made a tomatoes that grows in salty soil and removes the salt as it grows,
making the field fit for other crops. Some really neat stuff going on, no
doubt about it. I WILL have a true blue rose someday.
Look under 'transgenic' for a huge array of stuff that is growing in your
neighbors field and barns TODAY.

"Vox Humana" wrote in message
...

I can just see
entire lawns flashing out Morse Code and the religious fanatics who claim
that the plants are sending obscene messages that threaten the stability
of
the nuclear family.

Hybrid plants used to be considered the work of the devil, against nature,
and the fall of mankind, when they were first introduced.

In article , "Kat" wrote:

"Vox Humana" wrote in message
...

I can just see
entire lawns flashing out Morse Code and the religious fanatics who claim
that the plants are sending obscene messages that threaten the stability
of
the nuclear family.

Hybrid plants used to be considered the work of the devil, against nature,
and the fall of mankind, when they were first introduced.

Well, they ARE banned in Leviticus.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/

Thanks for all of your responses, pro and con. All responses to my
questions help me compile useful statistics.

I will respond to some of your questions and comments.

First, many of your comments seem to come from a perspective of belief in
traditional farming practices, combined with fear and distrust of scientific
agriculture. I would point out that, at one time all of these old
technologies were new and untested. Selection and mass planting of
cultivars has generally been benign, but there are examples of traditional
crop plants that have had negative ecological effects. The near extinction
of wild relatives of rice due to gene flow from crops in Taiwan is an
example.

Secondly, several responders have stated that genetically modified plants
will lead to ecological disaster. On what basis is this alarm raised? The
primary ecological effect of GM plants to date has been the decreased
pollution with pesticides of groundwater under BT cotton fields. Please
document your accusations.

Some comments deserve a direct response.

One respondent implied that modified plants are not likely to have an effect
on airborne toxics or oderants in homes. I can assure you that both of
these goals are practical.

Another respondent suggested that it was perverse to remove pollutants from
air rather than prevent their formation in the first place. I agree, but
odors are unavoidable, and pollutants are an unfortunate fact of modern
life. Airborne pollutants come from chlorinated water used to shower and
washing, releasing chloroform into the air; from clothing that has been dry
cleaned (perchloroethylene and methyl chloroform); from attached garages
(benzene and toluene); and various household products (methylene chloride
and many others). You may avoid dry cleaning and other sources of toxic
volatiles, but chlorination of water is the rule in the US and most of the
UK, so your house air does contain chloroform, and short of a whole house
carbon filter, well maintained, there is no way to avoid it. Isn't a
practical way to reduce that risk to your family worth considering?

In response to another respondent, unmodified plants do a poor job of
removing such pollutants from the air.

One respondent had a long list of questions, to which I will try to respond
:
Transgenic means introduction of genes from one species to another without
sexual crosses.
What means of genetic modification were used? Usually infection with
disarmed Agrobacterium or ballistic methods.
Were genes added or removed? Added.
If added, what was the original source? For the aroma, the plant itself
(upregulation); for toxic removal, mammalian; for blue rose, bacteria; for
odor removal, bacteria.
If added, do these genes occur in other species as well? In all cases, yes,
if I understand correctly the meaning of your question.
If added, what known issues (if any) have been associated with these genes?
I known of none. If you can suggest some, please do so.
What testing has been conducted on the plants? None yet, since this is all
hypothetical. Can you suggest tests?
Are the plants fertile? Yes.
Will the plants breed true? Probably not. Note that philodendron and
pothos ivy do not flower in indoor cultivation, to my knowledge, so sexual
transmission of the transgenes would be minimized.

This last point brings up a interesting point. Indoor plants like
philodendron and ivy are often propagated by cuttings. This is fine, but we
would not want there to be confusion over whether a particular plant is
transgenic. So we are thinking of adding the green fluorescent protein to
the plants so that they would glow slightly when illuminated with black
light in the dark. Then there should be no doubt whether a particular plant
was transgenic or not.

I hope this answers your questions.

Perrenelle

"Tumbleweed" wrote in message
...
"Perrenelle" wrote in message
news:TWXva.824960$L1.238840@sccrnsc02...
Please help out a researcher studying useful applications of transgenic
plants by answering three simple questions below.

snip
What does 'transgenic' mean?

It means the genes of another species were used to alter the genetics of the
existing plant or animal. If you live in the USA, Transgenic goods are in
your home, unlabeled, right now. Look it up.
The future is here.

In uk.rec.gardening paghat wrote:

: I'd vastly prefer to correct the problem that caused the indoor air to be
: full of toxic chemical gasses.

Dispense with your material posessions and move to the country.
--
__________
|im |yler http://timtyler.org/

In uk.rec.gardening Sue & Bob Hobden wrote:

: I would be interested BUT only if these plants were also made sterile,
: as all GM plants should be.

That's the luddite position.

I don't think it will last - in the future most probably all living things
will be "transgenic".
--
__________
|im |yler http://timtyler.org/