From owner-embldatabank@net.bio.net Wed Feb 01 22:00:00 1995 Path: biosci!bcm!cs.utexas.edu!not-for-mail From: marchaa@agric.nsw.gov.au (A.Marchant) Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.embldatabank Subject: searches and sequence comparisons - how to do? Date: 1 Feb 1995 21:15:50 -0600 Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway Lines: 21 Sender: nobody@cs.utexas.edu Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: news.cs.utexas.edu Could someone please tell me how to go about finding and comparing the sequences of homologous genes from diferent organisms, in the sequence databases? What I would like to do is to find published sequences of gene X from different organisms, line them up, and identify conserved regions. Specifically, I am interested in the internal transcribed spacer region of ribosomal DNA - a lot of work has been done on this region, from lots of different organisms, so perhaps there is a recent published article which compares the sequences found from very different taxa. If anyone knows of such (or, better still, has written it!), could they tell me about it, please? Please E-mail replies to me. Thanks, Adam Marchant. marchaa@agric.nsw.gov.au From owner-embldatabank@net.bio.net Wed Feb 01 22:00:00 1995 Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.embldatabank Path: biosci!galaxy.ucr.edu!ihnp4.ucsd.edu!swrinde!howland.reston.ans.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!news.uoregon.edu!news.u.washington.edu!netnews.nwnet.net!ns1.nodak.edu!plains!jjirik From: jjirik@plains.NoDak.edu (Joshua D Jirik) Subject: math Sender: usenet@ns1.nodak.edu (Usenet login) Message-ID: Date: Thu, 2 Feb 1995 15:03:14 GMT Nntp-Posting-Host: plains.nodak.edu Organization: North Dakota Higher Education Computing Network X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2] Lines: 1 From owner-embldatabank@net.bio.net Wed Feb 01 22:00:00 1995 Path: biosci!daresbury!bioftp.unibas.ch!citi2.fr!jussieu.fr!univ-lyon1.fr!news From: duret@evoserv.univ-lyon1.fr (Laurent Duret) Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.embldatabank Subject: Re: searches and sequence comparisons - how to d Date: 2 Feb 1995 06:42:55 GMT Organization: Universite Claude Bernard - Lyon 1 Lines: 41 Distribution: world Message-ID: <3gputf$453@cismsun.univ-lyon1.fr> References: Reply-To: duret@evoserv.univ-lyon1.fr NNTP-Posting-Host: evoserv.univ-lyon1.fr In article a100000@wagsun, marchaa@agric.nsw.gov.au (A.Marchant) writes: > Could someone please tell me how to go about finding and comparing the > sequences of homologous genes from diferent organisms, in the sequence > databases? > > What I would like to do is to find published sequences of gene X from > different organisms, line them up, and identify conserved regions. > > Specifically, I am interested in the internal transcribed spacer region of > ribosomal DNA - a lot of work has been done on this region, from lots of > different organisms, so perhaps there is a recent published article which > compares the sequences found from very different taxa. If anyone > knows of such (or, better still, has written it!), could they tell me > about it, please? > You should have a look at MUST [1], a computer package that has been developed to handle sequence alignments and phylogenetic trees. This tool is provided with a collection of aligned rRNA sequences. Hope this helps, ================================================================ Laurent Duret duret@biomserv.univ-lyon1.fr Tel: +33 72.44.81.42 Fax: +33 78.89.27.19 Laboratoire de Biometrie, Genetique et Biologie des Populations Bat 741 - URA CNRS 243 Universite Claude Bernard - Lyon I 43, Bd du 11 Novembre 1918 69622 Villeurbanne cedex FRANCE ================================================================ [1] Philippe H. (1993) Nucl. Acids Res. 21:5264-72 H. Philippe can be contacted at: adoutte@citi2.fr From owner-embldatabank@net.bio.net Wed Feb 01 22:00:00 1995 Path: biosci!bcm!cs.utexas.edu!not-for-mail From: marchaa@agric.nsw.gov.au (A.Marchant) Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.bio-matrix,bionet.molbio.embldatabank,bionet.molbio.evolution,bionet.molbio.genbank,bionet.molbio.methds-reagnts Subject: searches and sequence comparisons - how to do? Date: 1 Feb 1995 22:53:03 -0600 Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway Lines: 21 Sender: nobody@cs.utexas.edu Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: news.cs.utexas.edu Xref: biosci bionet.molbio.bio-matrix:536 bionet.molbio.embldatabank:436 bionet.molbio.evolution:2390 bionet.molbio.genbank:1910 bionet.molbio.methds-reagnts:23843 Could someone please tell me how to go about finding and comparing the sequences of homologous genes from different organisms, in the sequence databases? What I would like to do is to find published sequences of gene X from different organisms, line them up, and identify conserved regions. Specifically, I am interested in the internal transcribed spacer region of ribosomal DNA - a lot of work has been done on this region, from lots of different organisms, so perhaps there is a recent published article which compares the sequences found from very different taxa. If anyone knows of such (or, better still, has written it!), could they tell me about it, please? Please E-mail replies to me. Thanks, Adam Marchant. marchaa@agric.nsw.gov.au From owner-embldatabank@net.bio.net Wed Feb 01 22:00:00 1995 Path: biosci!adam.cc.sunysb.edu!news.sprintlink.net!howland.reston.ans.net!news.moneng.mei.com!uwm.edu!lll-winken.llnl.gov!enews.sgi.com!decwrl!tribune.usask.ca!quartz.ucs.ualberta.ca!unixg.ubc.ca!leblanc From: leblanc@unixg.ubc.ca (Heidi N LeBlanc) Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.ageing,bionet.molbio.bio-matrix,bionet.molbio.embldatabank,bionet.molbio.evolution,bionet.molbio.gdb,bionet.molbio.genome-program,bionet.molbio.hiv,bionet.molbio.rapd,bionet.molbio.yeast,bionet.molbio.gene-linkage Subject: Re: controversies & ethics Followup-To: bionet.molbio.ageing,bionet.molbio.bio-matrix,bionet.molbio.embldatabank,bionet.molbio.evolution,bionet.molbio.gdb,bionet.molbio.genome-program,bionet.molbio.hiv,bionet.molbio.rapd,bionet.molbio.yeast,bionet.molbio.gene-linkage Date: 2 Feb 1995 17:45:59 GMT Organization: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada Lines: 9 Message-ID: <3gr5on$amt@nnrp.ucs.ubc.ca> References: <3gk3au$pdp@rebecca.albany.edu> <3gm7u9$t5e@nntp1.u.washington.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: interchg.ubc.ca X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2] Xref: biosci bionet.molbio.ageing:1224 bionet.molbio.bio-matrix:537 bionet.molbio.embldatabank:439 bionet.molbio.evolution:2394 bionet.molbio.gdb:285 bionet.molbio.genome-program:1148 bionet.molbio.hiv:865 bionet.molbio.rapd:954 bionet.molbio.yeast:2287 bionet.molbio.gene-linkage:519 One of the problems isn't so much what we *do* with biotechnology, as how what we do is generally perceived. We as scientists think "Oh, what a clever idea, putting an arctic fish gene into strawberries". Non-scientists, with whatever level of education, often seem to think this is just monstrous. The issue might not really be whether what we are doing is ethical, or whether the ethics are unique to biotech, but rather that the level of tinkering we can achieve is vaguely felt to be just plain unnatural. The ethical problems might really be PR problems, and no less real for that. From owner-embldatabank@net.bio.net Thu Feb 02 22:00:00 1995 Path: biosci!agate!newsxfer.itd.umich.edu!gatech!swiss.ans.net!emi.com!pauling.wadsworth.org!rebecca!labonnes From: labonnes@csc.albany.edu (S. LaBonne) Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.ageing,bionet.molbio.bio-matrix,bionet.molbio.embldatabank,bionet.molbio.evolution,bionet.molbio.gdb,bionet.molbio.genome-program,bionet.molbio.hiv,bionet.molbio.rapd,bionet.molbio.yeast,bionet.molbio.gene-linkage Subject: Re: controversies & ethics Date: 2 Feb 1995 21:41:47 GMT Organization: University at Albany, SUNY Lines: 21 Message-ID: <3grjir$n5d@rebecca.albany.edu> References: <3gm7u9$t5e@nntp1.u.washington.edu> <3gr5on$amt@nnrp.ucs.ubc.ca> NNTP-Posting-Host: bathsheba.albany.edu Xref: biosci bionet.molbio.ageing:1227 bionet.molbio.bio-matrix:539 bionet.molbio.embldatabank:442 bionet.molbio.evolution:2397 bionet.molbio.gdb:287 bionet.molbio.genome-program:1154 bionet.molbio.hiv:867 bionet.molbio.rapd:956 bionet.molbio.yeast:2301 bionet.molbio.gene-linkage:523 In article <3gr5on$amt@nnrp.ucs.ubc.ca>, Heidi N LeBlanc wrote: >One of the problems isn't so much what we *do* with biotechnology, as how >what we do is generally perceived. We as scientists think "Oh, what a >clever idea, putting an arctic fish gene into strawberries". >Non-scientists, with whatever level of education, often seem to think >this is just monstrous. The issue might not really be whether what we >are doing is ethical, or whether the ethics are unique to biotech, but >rather that the level of tinkering we can achieve is vaguely felt to be >just plain unnatural. The ethical problems might really be PR problems, >and no less real for that. I quite agree, and my fear is that we needlessly _exacerbate_ these PR problems if we single out biotechnology for the kind of special treatment exemplified by the proposed course that started this discussion. Then naturally laypeople conclude, "Gee, even the scientists think this stuff is especially problematical, so we _certainly_ should be worried". -- Steve LaBonne *********************** (labonnes@csc.albany.edu) "It can never be satisfied, the mind, never." - Wallace Stevens From owner-embldatabank@net.bio.net Thu Feb 02 22:00:00 1995 Path: biosci!atlas.rc.m-kasei.co.jp!yao From: yao@atlas.rc.m-kasei.co.jp (Toru YAO) Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.embldatabank Subject: unsubscribe Date: 2 Feb 1995 19:56:50 -0800 Organization: BIOSCI International Newsgroups for Molecular Biology Lines: 1 Sender: daemon@net.bio.net Distribution: world Message-ID: <9502030356.AA24014@atlas.rc.m-kasei.co.jp> NNTP-Posting-Host: net.bio.net unsubscribe embl-databank-bb From owner-embldatabank@net.bio.net Thu Feb 02 22:00:00 1995 Path: biosci!bcm!cs.utexas.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!swiss.ans.net!emi.com!pauling.wadsworth.org!rebecca!labonnes From: labonnes@csc.albany.edu (S. LaBonne) Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.ageing,bionet.molbio.bio-matrix,bionet.molbio.embldatabank,bionet.molbio.evolution,bionet.molbio.gdb,bionet.molbio.genome-program,bionet.molbio.hiv,bionet.molbio.rapd,bionet.molbio.yeast,bionet.molbio.gene-linkage Subject: Re: controversies & ethics Date: 2 Feb 1995 16:43:49 GMT Organization: University at Albany, SUNY Lines: 34 Message-ID: <3gr245$i9p@rebecca.albany.edu> References: <3gm7u9$t5e@nntp1.u.washington.edu> <3gml85$fb5@rebecca.albany.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: freia.albany.edu Xref: biosci bionet.molbio.ageing:1226 bionet.molbio.bio-matrix:538 bionet.molbio.embldatabank:440 bionet.molbio.evolution:2395 bionet.molbio.gdb:286 bionet.molbio.genome-program:1152 bionet.molbio.hiv:866 bionet.molbio.rapd:955 bionet.molbio.yeast:2298 bionet.molbio.gene-linkage:522 In article , Howard M. Bomze wrote: > Steve Bonne has been saying that there are no new ethical >considerations for agricultural biotechnologies. However, he has been >missing one very important one, that is the possibility of an engineered >gene to be transfered to a different species. The transgenic plant not >only has the sequences of the desired gene, it also contains the >sequences which are necesary to insert the gene into the genome. So a >question which must be looked at is this: If a gene for herbicide >resistance has been put into a corn plant so that that herbicide can be >used to kill all of the crab grass in the corn field, what happens if >the gene is transfered to the crab grass? Is there an _ethical_ problem here? I guess I can parse this as meaning, "if we failed to be concerned about this possibility and released the engineered corn without satisfying ourselves that it won't happen, we would be behaving unethically". Certainly I agree. Since comparable transfers of desired traits have been performed by selective breeding since the Neolithic (not to mention that horizontal gene transfers occur all the time in nature), I still don't see the _qualitatively_ new ethical considerations that you seem to think exist here. (Introducing rabbits into Australia is a good pre-biotechnology example of failing to anticipate massive undesired consequences of an environmental manipulation.) Don't get me wrong- we clearly need to start thinking a lot more seriously about the potential undesired impacts of _all_ new technologies. I just think that to single out biotechnology as some kind of special case borders on superstition. -- Steve LaBonne *********************** (labonnes@csc.albany.edu) "It can never be satisfied, the mind, never." - Wallace Stevens From owner-embldatabank@net.bio.net Thu Feb 02 22:00:00 1995 Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.bio-matrix,bionet.molbio.embldatabank,bionet.molbio.evolution,bionet.molbio.genbank,bionet.molbio.methds-reagnts Path: biosci!bcm!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!howland.reston.ans.net!agate!dog.ee.lbl.gov!news.cs.utah.edu!emba-news.uvm.edu!sadye!aquilla From: aquilla@salus.med.uvm.edu (Tracy Aquilla) Subject: Re: searches and sequence comparisons - how to do? Message-ID: Sender: news@emba.uvm.edu Organization: EMBA Computer Facility, University of Vermont X-Newsreader: VersaTerm Link v1.1 References: Date: Fri, 3 Feb 1995 14:01:31 GMT Lines: 28 Xref: biosci bionet.molbio.bio-matrix:540 bionet.molbio.embldatabank:443 bionet.molbio.evolution:2400 bionet.molbio.genbank:1912 bionet.molbio.methds-reagnts:23956 In Article , marchaa@agric.nsw.gov.au (A.Marchant) wrote: >Could someone please tell me how to go about finding and comparing the >sequences of homologous genes from different organisms, in the sequence >databases? > >What I would like to do is to find published sequences of gene X from >different organisms, line them up, and identify conserved regions. > >Specifically, I am interested in the internal transcribed spacer region of >ribosomal DNA - a lot of work has been done on this region, from lots of >different organisms, so perhaps there is a recent published article which >compares the sequences found from very different taxa. If anyone >knows of such (or, better still, has written it!), could they tell me >about it, please? > >Please E-mail replies to me. > > Thanks, Adam Marchant. > marchaa@agric.nsw.gov.au You need to get the help files for the BLAST and Retreive servers at NCBI. You may also find NEntrez useful. This information is available via anonymous FTP. FTP to ncbi.nlm.nih.gov and login as anonymous, using your email address as a password. Browse through the directories for BLAST and download the help file. Do the same for Retreive and Entrez (Network). If you need more help, email me. Tracy From owner-embldatabank@net.bio.net Fri Feb 03 22:00:00 1995 Path: biosci!hubcap.clemson.edu!biosci!rutgers!uwm.edu!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!swiss.ans.net!emi.com!pauling.wadsworth.org!rebecca!labonnes From: labonnes@csc.albany.edu (S. LaBonne) Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.ageing,bionet.molbio.bio-matrix,bionet.molbio.embldatabank,bionet.molbio.evolution,bionet.molbio.gdb,bionet.molbio.gene-linkage,bionet.molbio.genome-program,bionet.molbio.hiv,bionet.molbio.rapd,bionet.molbio.yeast Subject: Re: controversies & ethics Date: 31 Jan 1995 01:21:34 GMT Organization: University at Albany, SUNY Lines: 39 Message-ID: <3gk3au$pdp@rebecca.albany.edu> References: NNTP-Posting-Host: freia.albany.edu Xref: biosci bionet.molbio.ageing:1230 bionet.molbio.bio-matrix:541 bionet.molbio.embldatabank:444 bionet.molbio.evolution:2403 bionet.molbio.gdb:288 bionet.molbio.gene-linkage:529 bionet.molbio.genome-program:1158 bionet.molbio.hiv:869 bionet.molbio.rapd:957 bionet.molbio.yeast:2304 In article , Phandaal wrote: >I've been asked to give a lecture to upper-division college students on >the controversies and ethical considerations in producing transgenic >organisms, especially transgenic plants. It's been a while since I gave >this lecture, and so I was wondering if anybody had any good examples of >controversies or ethical considerations that I could incorporate into the >talk. > >Two I can think of off-hand are: > >1) introducing insecticidal proteins (such as the Bacillus thuringiensis >protein) into plants may create resistant insect populations (under the >force of heavy selection pressure), which could then overrun the resistant >plants and make worthless the efforts by conventional growers who *use* Bt >protein as a topical pesticidal spray. > >2) altering fatty acid metabolism in oil-crops (like canola) so that they >produce oils found chiefly in palm and coconut could severely damage the >palm oil and coconut oil industries in Third World countries... thus >severely depressing the economies of these already struggling countries. My problem with these examples is that I see nothing about them that is unique to transgenic technology. Similar sorts of problems are raised all the time by "conventional" technologies, including very ancient ones like selective breeding. An analogue to 1 is simply overuse of pesticides (or antibiotics for that matter), which can render them worthless in the way you describe. And 2 in no way raises ethical issues different from, say, starting a palm oil industry in Key West, possibly after selective breeding of oil palms to produce strains that give high yields there. Indeed, I doubt that there _are_ any ethical issues which depend _specifically_ on agricultural use of biotechnology as opposed to agricultural technologies in general. -- Steve LaBonne *********************** (labonnes@csc.albany.edu) "It can never be satisfied, the mind, never." - Wallace Stevens From owner-embldatabank@net.bio.net Sat Feb 04 22:00:00 1995 Path: biosci!bcm!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!news.uh.edu!uuneo.neosoft.com!Starbase.NeoSoft.COM!mckee From: mckee@starbase.neosoft.com (George McKee) Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.ageing,bionet.molbio.bio-matrix,bionet.molbio.embldatabank,bionet.molbio.evolution,bionet.molbio.gdb,bionet.molbio.genome-program,bionet.molbio.hiv,bionet.molbio.rapd,bionet.molbio.yeast,bionet.molbio.gene-linkage Subject: Re: controversies & ethics Followup-To: bionet.molbio.ageing,bionet.molbio.bio-matrix,bionet.molbio.embldatabank,bionet.molbio.evolution,bionet.molbio.gdb,bionet.molbio.genome-program,bionet.molbio.hiv,bionet.molbio.rapd,bionet.molbio.yeast,bionet.molbio.gene-linkage Date: 5 Feb 1995 15:25:32 GMT Organization: NeoSoft Internet Services +1 713 968 5800 Lines: 24 Message-ID: <3h2qlc$d6o@uuneo.neosoft.com> References: <3gk3au$pdp@rebecca.albany.edu> <3gm7u9$t5e@nntp1.u.washington.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: starbase.neosoft.com X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2] Xref: biosci bionet.molbio.ageing:1236 bionet.molbio.bio-matrix:543 bionet.molbio.embldatabank:445 bionet.molbio.evolution:2412 bionet.molbio.gdb:290 bionet.molbio.genome-program:1164 bionet.molbio.hiv:871 bionet.molbio.rapd:960 bionet.molbio.yeast:2314 bionet.molbio.gene-linkage:530 Howard M. Bomze (hb10+@andrew.cmu.edu) wrote: : Steve Bonne has been saying that there are no new ethical : considerations for agricultural biotechnologies. However, he has been : missing one very important one, that is the possibility of an engineered : gene to be transfered to a different species. The transgenic plant not : only has the sequences of the desired gene, it also contains the : sequences which are necesary to insert the gene into the genome. This is one of those "ethical" problems that are really biological problems in disguise. Injecting new genes into the genomes of other organisms is precisely what retroviruses such as HIV have been doing for eons longer than biologists. To consider genetic engineering per se to be unethical is the same as considering crossbreeding unethical. The ethical considerations come into play when the new variety, however it was created, is being considered for introduction into the ecosystem. Introducing the gypsy moth into North America as a silk producer was far more disastrous than any frost-free tomato is likely to be. - George McKee -- Internet: mckee@neosoft.com Voice: +1 713 890 8122 From owner-embldatabank@net.bio.net Mon Feb 06 22:00:00 1995 Path: biosci!rutgers!uwm.edu!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!newsserver.jvnc.net!synapse.bms.com!news-admin From: mamber@synapse.bms.com (mamber) Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.ageing,bionet.molbio.bio-matrix,bionet.molbio.embldatabank,bionet.molbio.evolution,bionet.molbio.gdb,bionet.molbi Subject: Re: controversies & ethics Date: 7 Feb 1995 15:24:32 GMT Organization: Bristol-Myers Squibb Lines: 14 Message-ID: <3h83bg$daf@synapse.bms.com> References: NNTP-Posting-Host: 140.176.141.202 Xref: biosci bionet.molbio.ageing:1247 bionet.molbio.bio-matrix:548 bionet.molbio.embldatabank:447 bionet.molbio.evolution:2419 bionet.molbio.gdb:293 In article , Phandaal says: > >I've been asked to give a lecture to upper-division college students on >the controversies and ethical considerations in producing transgenic >organisms, especially transgenic plants. >Peter Schuerman >plschuerman@ucdavis.edu How about lecturing on the benefits of creating transgenic tobacco plants that produce anticancer, anti-AIDS or other beneficial drugs instead of being used to make cigarettes and other smoking-related products? SWM mamber@synapse.bms.com From owner-embldatabank@net.bio.net Tue Feb 07 22:00:00 1995 Path: biosci!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!gatech!howland.reston.ans.net!Germany.EU.net!zib-berlin.de!gs.dfn.de!immunbio.mpg.de!immunbio.mpg.de!news Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.embldatabank Subject: SRS V3.1 & new EMBL CD => crash! Message-ID: <1995Feb6.213705.166@immunbio.mpg.de> From: GARTMANN@IMMUNBIO.MPG.DE (Christoph Gartmann) Date: 6 Feb 95 21:37:05 +0100 Distribution: world Organization: Max-Planck-Institut fuer Immunbiologie Nntp-Posting-Host: mpi1.immunbio.mpg.de X-News-Reader: VMS NEWS 1.24Lines: 26 Lines: 26 Hi, with the latest release of the EMBL database SRS V3.1 under VMS just stops. Are there any fixes around? ...processing EMBL ...processing GENEMBLDISK:[GCGEMBL]EM_FUN.SEQ;1 ... nr. 300, ANPELD ... nr. 3600, SCARGIII e__nammismatch, names are not identical "SCCHROMI" and "SCCHROIV" Control returned to process BATCH_599 SYSTEM job terminated at 31-JAN-1995 23:34:23.11 Regards, Christoph Gartmann +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Max-Planck-Institut fuer Phone : +49-761-5108-465 Fax: -221 | | Immunbiologie PSI : PSI%(0262)45050160374::GARTMANN | | Postfach 1169 Internet: gartmann@immunbio.mpg.de | | D-79011 Freiburg, FRG | +----------- Do you know MENUE, the user environment for OpenVMS? -----------+ From owner-embldatabank@net.bio.net Thu Feb 09 22:00:00 1995 Path: biosci!agate!dog.ee.lbl.gov!news.cs.utah.edu!news.cc.utah.edu!corona!patrick From: Patrick O'Neil Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.ageing,bionet.molbio.bio-matrix,bionet.molbio.embldatabank,bionet.molbio.evolution,bionet.molbio.gdb,bionet.molbio.gene-linkage,bionet.molbio.genome-program,bionet.molbio.hiv,bionet.molbio.rapd,bionet.molbio.yeast Subject: Re: controversies & ethics Date: Thu, 9 Feb 1995 23:28:35 -0700 Organization: University Of Utah Computer Center Lines: 52 Message-ID: References: NNTP-Posting-Host: corona.med.utah.edu Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII In-Reply-To: Xref: biosci bionet.molbio.ageing:1267 bionet.molbio.bio-matrix:553 bionet.molbio.embldatabank:450 bionet.molbio.evolution:2429 bionet.molbio.gdb:295 bionet.molbio.gene-linkage:543 bionet.molbio.genome-program:1178 bionet.molbio.hiv:887 bionet.molbio.rapd:972 bionet.molbio.yeast:2369 On Mon, 30 Jan 1995, Phandaal wrote: > I've been asked to give a lecture to upper-division college students on > the controversies and ethical considerations in producing transgenic > organisms, especially transgenic plants. It's been a while since I gave > this lecture, and so I was wondering if anybody had any good examples of > controversies or ethical considerations that I could incorporate into the > talk. I spent a year working in a plant molec bio lab that was being partially funded by a private company to produce a more fungal resistent sugarbeet. Technically, it would be a transgenic in that a gene, VERY closely related to an already present gene, from Arabidopsis was/is to be introduced into the sugarbeet and overexpressed, thus bolstering the sugarbeet's fungal resistence. I enjoyed the work very much and saw absolutely nothing wrong with it. It was making use of an already existent defensive gene that resides in many plants and simply increasing its output by using an easy to maniplate gene from a common lab plant. This sugarbeet will allow, hopefully, less use of chemical fungicides. You could argue that it will simply apply selective pressure for fungi to evolve resistence...but then, so does the use of fungicides or natural defenses. A more resistent fungi will, conversely, select for more fungal-resistent plants. This can be applied to your first point below too. > > Two I can think of off-hand are: > > 1) introducing insecticidal proteins (such as the Bacillus thuringiensis > protein) into plants may create resistant insect populations (under the > force of heavy selection pressure), which could then overrun the resistant > plants and make worthless the efforts by conventional growers who *use* Bt > protein as a topical pesticidal spray. The use of the spray itself puts selective pressure on insects to develop resistence. The point is moot. > > 2) altering fatty acid metabolism in oil-crops (like canola) so that they > produce oils found chiefly in palm and coconut could severely damage the > palm oil and coconut oil industries in Third World countries... thus > severely depressing the economies of these already struggling countries. If business was nice, then companies would never be put out of business. It may be tough but I could not support artificially supporting a weakly-based economy by ignoring a possible economic boon here. Any economy that ties itself to one commodity is *automatically* doomed to bite it pretty hard. Look at Louisiana and the effects of it having placed all its economic eggs in the oil business basket -- the state is only now beginning to recover from over a decade of depressed economy and hard times. Patrick From owner-embldatabank@net.bio.net Thu Feb 09 22:00:00 1995 Path: biosci!agate!dog.ee.lbl.gov!news.cs.utah.edu!news.cc.utah.edu!corona!patrick From: Patrick O'Neil Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.ageing,bionet.molbio.bio-matrix,bionet.molbio.embldatabank,bionet.molbio.evolution,bionet.molbio.gdb,bionet.molbio.gene-linkage,bionet.molbio.genome-program,bionet.molbio.hiv,bionet.molbio.rapd,bionet.molbio.yeast Subject: Re: controversies & ethics Date: Thu, 9 Feb 1995 23:44:24 -0700 Organization: University Of Utah Computer Center Lines: 25 Message-ID: References: <3gk3au$pdp@rebecca.albany.edu> <3gm7u9$t5e@nntp1.u.washington.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: corona.med.utah.edu Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII In-Reply-To: <3gm7u9$t5e@nntp1.u.washington.edu> Xref: biosci bionet.molbio.ageing:1269 bionet.molbio.bio-matrix:554 bionet.molbio.embldatabank:451 bionet.molbio.evolution:2430 bionet.molbio.gdb:296 bionet.molbio.gene-linkage:544 bionet.molbio.genome-program:1179 bionet.molbio.hiv:888 bionet.molbio.rapd:973 bionet.molbio.yeast:2370 On 31 Jan 1995, Jared Roach wrote: > 2) The human race as a whole (or national governments, or > individuals) is slow to reach consensus on ethical issues (i.e. > religion, abortion, the creation of new species, etc.) Science > should slow its pace of discovery to allow Ethics to catch up. I could never go along with this point. What, tell us all that we should quit looking at this? Stop research concerning that? Take up a new trade, like house painting? I do and will continue to study and learn just as quickly as I am physically capable. I could never say, "well, that result sure does point to a VERY exciting, very interesting, line of research that would increase my understanding of x. Well, maybe I'll just cool my jets and let it go for a decade or so. Sure don't want to upset those who can't handle the fast pace of scientific understanding." In any case, it is a pointless thought since if this or that or those countries stopped research on x, then some other country or group would take it up because there would be a possible economic boon tied to it. If not us, then someone else. Humans have never and will never all agree to the same extent on ANYTHING. I would go to any location that would support what I am interested in researching, be it transgenics or gene therapy, etc. From owner-embldatabank@net.bio.net Thu Feb 09 22:00:00 1995 Path: biosci!agate!dog.ee.lbl.gov!news.cs.utah.edu!news.cc.utah.edu!corona!patrick From: Patrick O'Neil Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.ageing,bionet.molbio.bio-matrix,bionet.molbio.embldatabank,bionet.molbio.evolution,bionet.molbio.gdb,bionet.molbio.genome-program,bionet.molbio.hiv,bionet.molbio.rapd,bionet.molbio.yeast,bionet.molbio.gene-linkage Subject: Re: controversies & ethics Date: Thu, 9 Feb 1995 23:52:53 -0700 Organization: University Of Utah Computer Center Lines: 20 Message-ID: References: <3gk3au$pdp@rebecca.albany.edu> <3gm7u9$t5e@nntp1.u.washington.edu> <3gml85$fb5@rebecca.albany.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: corona.med.utah.edu Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII In-Reply-To: Xref: biosci bionet.molbio.ageing:1270 bionet.molbio.bio-matrix:555 bionet.molbio.embldatabank:452 bionet.molbio.evolution:2431 bionet.molbio.gdb:297 bionet.molbio.genome-program:1180 bionet.molbio.hiv:889 bionet.molbio.rapd:974 bionet.molbio.yeast:2371 bionet.molbio.gene-linkage:545 On Wed, 1 Feb 1995, Howard M. Bomze wrote: > Steve Bonne has been saying that there are no new ethical > considerations for agricultural biotechnologies. However, he has been > missing one very important one, that is the possibility of an engineered > gene to be transfered to a different species. This already happens in nature by various means, one of which is viral. There is no absolute genetic sanctity in nature. As for transgenics, especially in plants, one tool for introducing foreign genes is agrobacteria. This microbe is fully capable of vectoring interspecific DNA without lab manipulation. The DNA so introduced in the lab does not carry any special DNA destabilizer, rather, it depends on the rather scattershot and low-yield natural method of homologous recombination or illegitimate recombination. Another method has absolutely no danger of transfering a new DNA transfer method to nature: the gene gun. DNA of interest bound to microscopic gold beads and shot into cells offers absolutely no threat of tranfering into an uncontrollable means of interspecific gene transfer in the wild. From owner-embldatabank@net.bio.net Sat Feb 11 22:00:00 1995 Path: biosci!internet!biosci!not-for-mail From: biohelp (BIOSCI Administrator) Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.embldatabank Subject: UNSUBSCRIBING, BIOSCI ARCHIVES, ADDRESS DATABASE & BIOSCI FAQ Date: 12 Feb 1995 02:00:19 -0800 Organization: BIOSCI International Newsgroups for Molecular Biology Lines: 338 Sender: daemon@net.bio.net Distribution: world Message-ID: <199502121000.CAA28559@net.bio.net> Four important items follow: How to cancel e-mail subscriptions to BIOSCI newsgroups, BIOSCI archive searching, the BIOSCI FAQ, and the BIOSCI User Address Directory form. If you have not yet listed yourself in our BIOSCI user directory, please take a few minutes to complete and return the form below. If your personal information has changed since you listed yourself, please send us a complete new updated form. We can not make manual revisions to existing entries. Sincerely, Dave Kristofferson BIOSCI/bionet Manager biosci-help@net.bio.net **** How to cancel a BIOSCI e-mail subscription **** If you want to cancel your e-mail subscription to this group, PLEASE DO NOT POST YOUR UNSUBSCRIBE REQUEST TO THE NEWSGROUP ADDRESS (NOR REPLY TO A MESSAGE POSTED TO THE NEWSGROUP)!!! This would send your request to all of the readers of the newsgroup, but it might still not be seen by the BIOSCI staff - thus you would annoy many people and possibly not accomplish your goal anyway. IF YOU ARE LOCATED IN THE AMERICAS OR PACIFIC RIM COUNTRIES, please send a message to biosci@net.bio.net Instructions on how to subscribe/unsubscribe will be returned automatically, so the contents of your message do not matter. IF YOU ARE LOCATED IN EUROPE, AFRICA OR CENTRAL ASIA, please send a message to MXT@dl.ac.uk containing the word help in the body of the message to retrieve e-mail server instructions. Any text placed on the Subject: line of your message will be ignored, so be sure to put the "help" command in the body of the message. If you need personal assistance, a BIOSCI staff member can be contacted at either of the following addresses. Please contact the address designated for your location. Support Address Location --------------- -------- biosci@daresbury.ac.uk Europe, Africa, and Central Asia biosci-help@net.bio.net Americas and the Pacific Rim **** SEARCHING BIOSCI ARCHIVES **** The easiest way to search the BIOSCI archives is to use gopher software and connect over the Internet to net.bio.net, the U.S. BIOSCI computer. We maintain three indexes which are searchable from the main gopher menu on net.bio.net: (1) an index of all BIOSCI postings; (2) an index of individual journal article references from the Table of Contents postings on the BIO-JOURNALS newsgroup; and (3) an index of BIOSCI users including regular mail and e-mail addresses, phone/FAX numbers, research interests, and newsgroup participation. E-mail users can search the BIOSCI archives by using our waismail e-mail server. For instructions send the message help to waismail@net.bio.net. Leave the Subject: line blank (anything entered on the Subject: line is ignored). WAIS software can also be used to search the archives as described in the BIOSCI FAQ (see below). Finally, the BIOSCI archive files are accessible by anonymous FTP to net.bio.net [134.172.2.69] in the directory pub/BIOSCI. **** BIOSCI FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ) SHEET **** New users of BIOSCI/bionet may want to read the "Frequently Asked Questions" or "FAQ" sheet for BIOSCI. The FAQ provides details on how to participate in these forums and is available for anonymous FTP from net.bio.net [134.172.2.69] in pub/BIOSCI/doc/biosci.FAQ or for retrieval by gopher to net.bio.net, port 70. It may also be requested by sending the command info faq in the body of an e-mail message to the Internet address biosci-server@net.bio.net. Please do not enter the info faq command on the Subject: line of your message since the e-mail server ignores text on the Subject: line. The FAQ is also posted on the first of each month to the newsgroup BIONEWS/bionet.announce immediately following the posting of the BIOSCI information sheet. **** BIOSCI USER ADDRESS DIRECTORY **** Please take this opportunity to add your name and address information to the BIOSCI User Address Database if you have not already done so. Below is the address form that we would like each reader of the BIOSCI/bionet newsgroups to complete and return if you would like to be listed in our database. The database serves as a directory that enables biologists, who are currently using (or even just reading) the BIOSCI newsgroups, to look up e-mail addresses and other information about our users. The address database is reindexed nightly for WAIS, waismail, and gopher access. If you have access to gopher, connect to net.bio.net to search the database. If you have access to WAIS, please use our WAIS source biologists-addresses.src. If you are not on the Internet, please use our waismail server (send the word "help" to waismail@net.bio.net to get instructions; any text on the Subject: line of your message will be ignored, so put the help command in the body of the mail message.). Please carefully follow the instructions for completing the form below and return it to either of the following two addresses (whichever is more convenient for you). Thanks in advance for taking the time to complete and return the form. Addresses for returning forms Location Network ----------------------------- -------- ------- biovote@net.bio.net U.S.A. Internet/BITNET biovote@daresbury.ac.uk U.K. JANET MAKING SURE THAT YOUR INFORMATION IS CURRENT This notice will be mailed bimonthly to each newsgroup. You should check your database entry from time-to-time to see if your address information is still up-to-date. Using Gopher to complete the form --------------------------------- If you don't want to use a text editor, you can also use Dan Jacobson's gopher site to fill out the address database form as follows. Otherwise skip this section on gopher and proceed to the instructions for filling out the form below. > To add yourself to the database just point your > gopher client at merlot.gdb.org and select the following: > > --> 14. Searching For Biologists/ > > --> 9. E-mail Addresses of Biosci-Bionet Users/ > > --> 1. Add (or Correct) Your Address to the BIOSCI User Address > Data.. > > > And fill out the form. or Rob Harper's gopher site in Europe as follows: > Europeans can point their gopher client at gopher.csc.fi and add their > information to the database. All entries will be mailed directly to > Dave for incorporation in a wais source. > > The path to the questionare is as follows. > > > 6. Information in English/ > > 5. Scientific and other topics/ > > 1. Finnish EMBnet BioBox/ > > 9. FAQ Files/ > > 5. Bionauts Address Database (questionaire) > IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY Please enter all responses after the : on each line, leaving one (1) blank space after the : (i.e., before the start of your text). Please do NOT extend your responses past the end of each line (80 characters). PLEASE DO NOT alter any of the field identifiers such as "first name: ". If you have nothing to enter after a field identifier, PLEASE LEAVE IT - do not delete it even if there is no data on the line in question. Several lines are provided at the end of the form for comments, but, please adhere to the line length restriction. On the date: line, please enter the date in the DD-MM-YY format, e.g., 15-05-93 for 15 May 1993. This line will tell others when the information was last updated. Please be sure to include the 0's for single digit days or months, e.g., 15-05-93, not 15-5-93. Note that the "e-mail network: " line below is for specifying, e.g., "Internet," "BITNET," "EARN," "JANET," or whatever other network that your computer may be on. If you are uncertain about any field, please feel free to leave it blank, but please DO NOT DELETE the field identifier from the form! In the first field below, "New information or Update ...", please enter "N" if this is the first time that you have registered in the directory or "U" if you are correcting a listing that you sent to us previously. The comment: lines may be used for anything that you like but PLEASE DO NOT DELETE THEM FROM THE FORM OR ALTER THEM. One suggested use is to list the names of the newsgroups in which you participate. Please use the MAILING LIST name (see below - the latest version of the list can be requested from biosci@net.bio.net) instead of the USENET name even if you don't participate by e-mail. WAIS might get confused by the periods in the USENET names. This allows one to retrieve via WAIS or waismail the list of participants in a particular group. For example: comment: ARABIDOPSIS PLANT-BIOLOGY BIONEWS On the comment: lines use these names below ---- NOT the USENET names below MAILING LIST NAME USENET Newsgroup Name ----------------- --------------------- ACEDB-SOFT bionet.software.acedb AGEING bionet.molbio.ageing AGROFORESTRY bionet.agroforestry ARABIDOPSIS bionet.genome.arabidopsis ASCB bionet.prof-society.ascb BIOCAN bionet.prof-society.cfbs BIOFORUM bionet.general BIO-INFORMATION-THEORY bionet.info-theory BIONAUTS bionet.users.addresses BIONEWS bionet.announce BIO-JOURNALS bionet.journals.contents BIO-MATRIX bionet.molbio.bio-matrix BIOPHYSICAL-SOCIETY bionet.prof-society.biophysics BIOPHYSICS bionet.biophysics BIO-SOFTWARE bionet.software BIOTHERMOKINETICS bionet.metabolic-reg BIO-WWW bionet.software.www CARDIOVASCULAR-RESEARCH bionet.biology.cardiovascular CELEGANS bionet.celegans CELL-BIOLOGY bionet.cellbiol CHLAMYDOMONAS bionet.chlamydomonas CHROMOSOMES bionet.genome.chromosomes COMPUTATIONAL-BIOLOGY bionet.biology.computational CSM bionet.prof-society.csm CYTONET bionet.cellbiol.cytonet DROSOPHILA bionet.drosophila EMBL-DATABANK bionet.molbio.embldatabank EMF-BIO bionet.emf-bio EMPLOYMENT bionet.jobs EMPLOYMENT-WANTED bionet.jobs.wanted FASEB bionet.prof-society.faseb GDB bionet.molbio.gdb GENBANK-BB bionet.molbio.genbank GENETIC-LINKAGE bionet.molbio.gene-linkage GRASSES-SCIENCE bionet.biology.grasses HIV-MOLECULAR-BIOLOGY bionet.molbio.hiv HUMAN-GENOME-PROGRAM bionet.molbio.genome-program IMMUNOLOGY bionet.immunology INFO-GCG bionet.software.gcg JOURNAL-NOTES bionet.journals.note METHODS-AND-REAGENTS bionet.molbio.methds-reagnts MICROBIOLOGY bionet.microbiology MOLECULAR-EVOLUTION bionet.molbio.evolution MOLECULAR-MODELLING bionet.molec-model MOLLUSC-MOLECULAR-NEWS bionet.molbio.molluscs MYCOLOGY bionet.mycology NEUROSCIENCE bionet.neuroscience N2-FIXATION bionet.biology.n2-fixation PARASITOLOGY bionet.parasitology PHOTOSYNTHESIS bionet.photosynthesis PLANT-BIOLOGY bionet.plants POPULATION-BIOLOGY bionet.population-bio PROTEIN-ANALYSIS bionet.molbio.proteins PROTEIN-CRYSTALLOGRAPHY bionet.xtallography PROTISTA bionet.protista RAPD bionet.molbio.rapd SCIENCE-RESOURCES bionet.sci-resources STADEN bionet.software.staden STRUCTURAL-NMR bionet.structural-nmr TROPICAL-BIOLOGY bionet.biology.tropical URODELES bionet.organisms.urodeles VIROLOGY bionet.virology WOMEN-IN-BIOLOGY bionet.women-in-bio YEAST bionet.molbio.yeast ZBRAFISH bionet.organisms.zebrafish Listing newsgroups on the comment: line is optional, of course. Thanks again for your cooperation! --------------- please cut here and return portion below --------------- New information or Update to old record (enter N or U): date (DD-MM-YY): first name: middle initial: family name: job title: e-mail address: e-mail network: phone number: FAX number: institution: address1: address2: address3: city: state/province: country: postal code: research interest: research interest: comment: comment: comment: comment: comment: From owner-embldatabank@net.bio.net Mon Feb 13 22:00:00 1995 Path: biosci!rutgers!gatech!howland.reston.ans.net!ix.netcom.com!netnews From: krokos@ix.netcom.com (Christopher Krokos) Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.embldatabank Subject: Help - PCR Design Prgm needed. Date: 14 Feb 1995 16:58:16 GMT Organization: Netcom Lines: 21 Distribution: world Message-ID: <3hqnf8$77s@ixnews3.ix.netcom.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: ix-stm1-14.ix.netcom.com To: bionet.molbio.embldatabank bionet.molbio.genbank bionet.software.gcg Date: 02/14/95 Re: Help, Design Prgms needed. Can anyone help me to find a following freeware or shareware DOS/Windows programs: Primer Design Program Probe Design Program PCR Design Program Thank you in advance for any information, Sincerely yours, Christopher A Krokos E-mail: krokos@ix.netcom.com From owner-embldatabank@net.bio.net Tue Feb 14 22:00:00 1995 Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.embldatabank Path: biosci!daresbury!hgmp.mrc.ac.uk!ebi.ac.uk!tome From: tome@ebi.ac.uk (Patricia Rodriguez-Tome) Subject: Re: Help - PCR Design Prgm needed. Sender: news@ebi.ac.uk (Mr news) Message-ID: Date: Wed, 15 Feb 1995 09:38:10 GMT Lines: 80 Reply-To: tome@ebi.ac.uk (Patricia Rodriguez-Tome) References: <3hqnis$788@ixnews3.ix.netcom.com> Organization: European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL) - UK X-Newsreader: mxrn 6.18-16 Hello, In article <3hqnis$788@ixnews3.ix.netcom.com>, krokos@ix.netcom.com (Christopher Krokos) writes: > >Can anyone help me to find a following freeware or shareware DOS/Windows >programs: > > Primer Design Program > Probe Design Program > PCR Design Program > >Thank you in advance for any information, > >Sincerely yours, > >Christopher A Krokos >E-mail: krokos@ix.netcom.com > The BioCatalog at EBI will porvide this information (URL: http://www.ebi.ac.uk/biocat/biocat.html) Here is the only entry for a freeware or shareware DOS/Windows program: AC BC00155 NAME OSP DOMAIN Oligomer design and synthesis DESCRIPTION OSP is a computer program developed to aid in DESCRIPTION selecting oligonucleotide primers for DNA DESCRIPTION sequencing and for the polymerase chain DESCRIPTION reaction. OSP allows the user to specify (or DESCRIPTION use default) constraints for primer and DESCRIPTION amplified product lengths, %G+C contents, DESCRIPTION and (absolute or relative) meltingtemperatures DESCRIPTION for primer 3' nucleotides; and for the maximum DESCRIPTION allowable primer-self,primer-primer, and DESCRIPTION primer-product annealing propensities. DESCRIPTION Candidate primer sequences are screened DESCRIPTION against a user-supplied data set of other DESCRIPTION sequences (e.g. repetitive element or vector DESCRIPTION sequences) to help minimize the possibility of DESCRIPTION non-specific priming. DESCRIPTION Primers meeting all constraints are ranked and DESCRIPTION displayed in order of increasing overall DESCRIPTION ``score'', which is a user-definable weighted DESCRIPTION sum of the above parameter values. DESCRIPTION The program is available at no cost from the DESCRIPTION authors in two versions, one of which produces DESCRIPTION text-only output, and the other having an DESCRIPTION interactive X windows graphic interface. AUTHOR LaDeana Hillier RA Hillier L, Green P.; RT "OSP: A computer program for choosing PCR RT and DNA sequencing primers."; RL PCR Methods and Applications 1:124-128(1991). RX Medline; 93113324. RX SeqAnalRef; HILL9101. ADDRESS Washington University Medical School ADDRESS Department of Genetics, Box 8232, 4566 Scott, ADDRESS St. Louis, MO 63110 USA. CONTACT LaDeana Hillier lfw@elegans.wustl.edu SITE - SITE-CONTACT - OS VAX/VMS, PC, MAC, and SUN Sparcstations), OS or interactive X windows graphics version OS (X-Window version for the Sparc and now for Linux). LANGUAGE C Regards, Pat -- ======================================================================= Dr. Patricia Rodriguez-Tome | Email:tome@ebi.ac.uk EBI - EMBL outstation | URL: http://www.ebi.ac.uk Hinxton Hall, Hinxton | Tel: +44 (0)223 494 413 Cambridge CB10 1RQ, UK | Fax: +44 (0)223 494 468 ======================================================================== From owner-embldatabank@net.bio.net Tue Feb 14 22:00:00 1995 Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.embldatabank Path: biosci!daresbury!hgmp.mrc.ac.uk!ebi.ac.uk!harper From: harper@ebi.ac.uk (Rob Harper) Subject: Power Cut at Cambridge UK. Sender: news@ebi.ac.uk (Mr news) Message-ID: Date: Wed, 15 Feb 1995 14:42:42 GMT Lines: 11 Reply-To: harper@ebi.ac.uk Organization: European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL) - UK X-Newsreader: mxrn 6.18-16 This note is to inform you that in the UK, Cambridge has had a power cut, and the network link between Hinxton and the rest of the world is down. This will mean that there will be an interuption in services. So if you can not get through to the EBI WWW server or the ftp site you will have to wait until Cambridge gets back on the grid. There is no estimate of when that will be. RGDS -=ROB=- From owner-embldatabank@net.bio.net Wed Feb 15 22:00:00 1995 Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.ageing,bionet.molbio.bio-matrix,bionet.molbio.embldatabank,bionet.molbio.evolution,bionet.molbio.gdb,bionet.molbio.gene-linkage,bionet.molbio.genome-program,bionet.molbio.hiv,bionet.molbio.rapd,bionet.molbio.yeast Path: biosci!daresbury!trane.uninett.no!ugle.unit.no!news.uit.no!pclab12.hibo.no!FG1 From: FG1@stud.hibo.no Subject: Re: controversies & ethics Sender: news@news.uit.no (News admin.) Message-ID: Date: Thu, 16 Feb 1995 10:34:11 GMT Lines: 58 References: Organization: Bodoe College X-Newsreader: Trumpet for Windows [Version 1.0 Rev A] Xref: biosci bionet.molbio.ageing:1331 bionet.molbio.bio-matrix:557 bionet.molbio.embldatabank:457 bionet.molbio.evolution:2449 bionet.molbio.gdb:301 bionet.molbio.gene-linkage:562 bionet.molbio.genome-program:1199 bionet.molbio.hiv:914 bionet.molbio.rapd:987 bionet.molbio.yeast:2405 In article Patrick O'Neil writes: >From: Patrick O'Neil >Subject: Re: controversies & ethics >Date: Thu, 9 Feb 1995 23:28:35 -0700 >On Mon, 30 Jan 1995, Phandaal wrote: >> I've been asked to give a lecture to upper-division college students on >> the controversies and ethical considerations in producing transgenic >> organisms, especially transgenic plants. It's been a while since I gave >> this lecture, and so I was wondering if anybody had any good examples of >> controversies or ethical considerations that I could incorporate into the >> talk. > I spent a year working in a plant molec bio lab that was being partially >funded by a private company to produce a more fungal resistent >sugarbeet. Technically, it would be a transgenic in that a gene, VERY >closely related to an already present gene, from Arabidopsis was/is to be >introduced into the sugarbeet and overexpressed, thus bolstering the >sugarbeet's fungal resistence. I enjoyed the work very much and saw >absolutely nothing wrong with it. It was making use of an already >existent defensive gene that resides in many plants and simply increasing >its output by using an easy to maniplate gene from a common lab plant. >This sugarbeet will allow, hopefully, less use of chemical fungicides. > You could argue that it will simply apply selective pressure for fungi >to evolve resistence...but then, so does the use of fungicides or natural >defenses. A more resistent fungi will, conversely, select for more >fungal-resistent plants. This can be applied to your first point below too. >> >> Two I can think of off-hand are: >> >> 1) introducing insecticidal proteins (such as the Bacillus thuringiensis >> protein) into plants may create resistant insect populations (under the >> force of heavy selection pressure), which could then overrun the resistant >> plants and make worthless the efforts by conventional growers who *use* Bt >> protein as a topical pesticidal spray. >The use of the spray itself puts selective pressure on insects to develop >resistence. The point is moot. >> >> 2) altering fatty acid metabolism in oil-crops (like canola) so that they >> produce oils found chiefly in palm and coconut could severely damage the >> palm oil and coconut oil industries in Third World countries... thus >> severely depressing the economies of these already struggling countries. >If business was nice, then companies would never be put out of business. >It may be tough but I could not support artificially supporting a >weakly-based economy by ignoring a possible economic boon here. Any >economy that ties itself to one commodity is *automatically* doomed to bite >it pretty hard. Look at Louisiana and the effects of it having placed >all its economic eggs in the oil business basket -- the state is only now >beginning to recover from over a decade of depressed economy and hard times. >Patrick From owner-embldatabank@net.bio.net Thu Feb 23 22:00:00 1995 Path: biosci!daresbury!hgmp.mrc.ac.uk!pcunning From: pcunning@crc.ac.uk (Mr. P. Cunningham) Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.embldatabank,bionet.molbio.genbank,bionet.molbio.proteins Subject: CHLPEP chloroplast transit peptides Date: 24 Feb 1995 16:40:04 GMT Organization: MRC Human Genome Resource Centre Lines: 17 Message-ID: <3il254$m9a@mercury.hgmp.mrc.ac.uk> NNTP-Posting-Host: tin.hgmp.mrc.ac.uk Keywords: CHLPEP Chloroplast transit peptides Xref: biosci bionet.molbio.embldatabank:458 bionet.molbio.genbank:1956 bionet.molbio.proteins:3803 CHLPEP a database of chloroplast transit proteins is refered to in PLANT MOLECULAR BIOLOGY REPORTER Vol 9 No 2 May 1991 page 104-126 By Gunner von Heijne and others They expressed the intention to deposit the data at EMBL however I can not locate it. Does any reader of these newsgroups know where the data has been deposited or os it still purely a paper and floppy disk operation? Thanks for any info Phil Cunningham Bioinformatics Officer King's College London From owner-embldatabank@net.bio.net Sun Feb 26 22:00:00 1995 Path: biosci!agate!library.ucla.edu!csulb.edu!nic-nac.CSU.net!charnel.ecst.csuchico.edu!news.xmission.com!news.cc.utah.edu!corona!patrick From: Patrick O'Neil Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.ageing,bionet.molbio.bio-matrix,bionet.molbio.embldatabank,bionet.molbio.evolution,bionet.molbio.gdb,bionet.molbio.gene-linkage,bionet.molbio.genome-program,bionet.molbio.hiv,bionet.molbio.rapd,bionet.molbio.yeast Subject: Re: controversies & ethics Date: Sun, 26 Feb 1995 20:33:58 -0700 Organization: University Of Utah Computer Center Lines: 55 Message-ID: References: <3gk3au$pdp@rebecca.albany.edu> <3gm7u9$t5e@nntp1.u.washington.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: corona.med.utah.edu Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII In-Reply-To: <3gm7u9$t5e@nntp1.u.washington.edu> Xref: biosci bionet.molbio.ageing:1462 bionet.molbio.bio-matrix:561 bionet.molbio.embldatabank:459 bionet.molbio.evolution:2494 bionet.molbio.gdb:304 bionet.molbio.gene-linkage:583 bionet.molbio.genome-program:1231 bionet.molbio.hiv:937 bionet.molbio.rapd:1011 bionet.molbio.yeast:2477 On 31 Jan 1995, Jared Roach wrote: > Now one might argue that the speed of recombinant research > has two dangers: > 1) The rest of the ecosystem is not changing as fast to > modify itself so as to maintain some kind of ecological "balance." > Furthermore, scientists may be slower to understand ecological impact > than they are in developing new organisms. This is not just restricted to transgenics. Chemical companies and farmers don't want nature to catch up to pesticides too quickly (if at all) so would it be bad if DOW, for instance, came up with a pesticide that insects or fungi were extremely slow to catch up to? (Leaving the debate over the use of such chemicals aside for the moment) The whole basis of farming is one of a state of unbalance. A field made up of only one species of plant is not, itself, natural and is unbalanced. Plants being protected by human interventions from predators is unbalanced. If it was all let alone then balance would come but at the expense of food for the populous. Where and what is a good state of unbalance, then? Even organic farming requires human-induced unbalancing through the artificial increased mass of fertilizing manure, introduction of unnatural numbers of beneficial insects, etc. > 2) The human race as a whole (or national governments, or > individuals) is slow to reach consensus on ethical issues (i.e. > religion, abortion, the creation of new species, etc.) Science > should slow its pace of discovery to allow Ethics to catch up. > Some of these areas will NEVER be an area of consensus. The new species that I have seen/read about are incredibly specialized and always based on natural examples (hydrocarbon consuming bacteria). A beefalo isn't itself so odd, for instance, except in name. They are a melding of two very closely related species and like cattle, are not set up to take over the world...just dinner tables. I am no fan of the cattle industry but is such specialized living food really any worse than any domesticated food animal, bred for sloth, even temper, tender haunches, etc? In any case, the idea, "Science should slow down discovery" is disturbing. I again ask, what do you do, tell a scientist that he or she is doing too well and finding out too much? Knowledge is deadly and bad? More disturbing to me than any talk of _unthinking_ tampering with lifespan to any significant degree is the idea that one can know too much. One can learn too much. Religions tend to take that position when their particular belief system is threatened by some bit of knowledge. So, just cover your eyes and ears and pretend that what is so is NOT so? Knowledge is NEVER the problem, it is how you use it. That said, transgenics is not, in and of itself, bad unless it is done foolishly and for the wrong reasons. I presently work with transgenic mice in a cancer research lab. They are indespensible to the research. Patrick