RE: killer weeds

Harris, Craig (Craig.Harris@ssc.msu.edu)
Sun, 25 Jul 1999 17:41:40 -0400

i'm not sure that it's useful to speculate about what secretary glickman
meant by a comment in a speech; i suspect a question to the public relations
people at usda would be more efficacious
but as long as we find ourselves in this discussion, one way that ge could
kill the killer weed on the lands of people who do not purchase seed inputs
is by the release of weed predators, probably insects or nematodes, but
perhaps diseases . . . for example one could bioengineer a nematode that
secretes the same chemicals as a germinating target seed, and broadcast the
nematodes in some form by aerial distribution . . .
cheers,
craig

craig k harris
department of sociology
michigan state university
429b berkey hall
east lansing michigan 48824-1111
tel: 517-355-5048
fax: 517-432-2856

> ----------
> From: E. Ann Clark, Associate
> Professor[SMTP:aclark@plant.uoguelph.ca]
> Sent: Sunday 25 July 1999 2:19 PM
> To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu
> Subject: Re: killer weeds
>
> Folks: "killer weeds" - is this not Striga? I seem to recall hearing
> reference to how GE was somehow going to do away with Striga, which is
> indeed a real curse in Africa. It is one of several parasitic plants,
> which live off of other plants, and have a special
> liking for certain key crop plants. The seed of Striga has evolved a
> really clever scheme for germinating in response to certain chemicals
> given off by only the germinating seed of target host plants (not others).
> Then, it has I think 4 days in which to grow out and contact the host
> roots for invasion, or else it dies. So, the seed can stay dormant for a
> long time, waiting for the crop to return, and when it does - whammo.
> I think I have the story right, but what I'm unclear on is how GE is going
> to kill the killer weed, particularly on the land of subsistence farmers
> who don't purchase seed or other inputs anyway.
> Perhaps someone can inform me? Ann
>
> ACLARK@plant.uoguelph.ca
> Dr. E. Ann Clark
> Associate Professor
> Crop Science
> University of Guelph
> Guelph, ON N1G 2W1
> Phone: 519-824-4120 Ext. 2508
> FAX: 519 763-8933
> http://www.oac.uoguelph.ca/www/CRSC/faculty/eac.htm
>
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