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[MohRokTah]

160. The protein is not inserted. The plant itself produces the protein.

Last edited Tue May 13, 2014, 01:32 AM - Edit history (2)

Your desire when modifying the organism is to produce or enhance a desired biosynthesis process.

The problem is the biosystem of the plant is complex and any altered or introduced biosynthesis process will affect other existing biosynthesis processes. To affect or introduce the desired process is to introduce hormonal production to induce the process. Because nearly all biosynthesis processes within the host plant are dependent upon hormonal levels, any introduction of new hormones or increase or decrease in existing hormones will affect more than the targeted biosynthesis process. This effect will be minimal in the vast majority of genetic modification, but all it takes is a single altered biosynthesis process to produce an undesired effect.

A simple example would be ethylene biosynthesis in dioecious plants. If you suppress ethylene production in a female of a species that is dioecious, you will induce male sexual expression because in dioecious plants both ethylene and gibberellins are produced in the male and female plants. Hormonal controllers in males produce higher levels of gibberellins and hormonal controllers in females produce higher levels of ethylene.

This suppression of ehtylene biosynthesis could be accomplished via many techniques and is useful in dioecious plant breeding when female sexual expression and traits are the desired outcome (Kiwi comes to mind for desired fruit production in a selective breeding program).

If you genetically altered a female kiwi plant in such a way as to inhibit ethylene biosynthesis, say you wanted a desired effect but a higher level of negative ionic particles exist in the plasm of the plant just enough to inhibit ethylene biosynthesis, you will never experience female sexual expression but will always produce male sexual expression. You will have effectively altered the sex of the host plant. Depending upon where the gene you introduced exists, you could produce a super male that will only have male sexual expression in any offspring.

That's a simplistic example of how an unforeseen biosynthesis process could have damaging effects, but also one that is more likely than the potential for carcinogenic biosynthesis due to how sexual expression in dioecious plants occurs.

Biosynthesis processes in organisms do not occur in a vacuum.

Edited to add: In my super male example of the dioecious kiwi, 1/2 of all offspring will produce normal male sexual expression and 1/2 of all offspring will produce super male sexual offspring. This super male expression requires the inserted gene to exist on the same chromosome as the gene that controls normal female ethylene biosynthesis. Since any fruit production genetic introduction will most likely also occur on that chormosone, the potential for unforeseen biosynthesis processes is much higher than under any standard genetic modification procedures.