Roberto
Date: Sat, 06 Nov 1999 21:06:14 -0500
From: joe cummins <jcummins@julian.uwo.ca>
To: BAN GE BAN <Ban-GEF@lists.txinfinet.com>
Message-ID: <3824DE96.7FAAEA57@julian.uwo.ca>
Subject: B-GE: Exchange between HIV and CaMV
November 6, 1999
e-mail; jcummins@julian.uwo.ca
"CaMV and HIV Interact in Virus Replication"
This years John Innes Centre and Sainsbury Laboratory Annual Report
1998/1999 has a report by R.Noad,R.Viallana, D. Turner, K. Moffat and
S. Covey which shows that the relication of cauliflower mosaic virus
(CaMV) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) have interchangeable
components. The RNase H enzyme is an essential component for DNA
replication from RNA in both viruses (HIV is a retrovirus whose
infectious component is RNA while CaMV is a para Retrovirus related
to Hepatitis B and other Hepadna virus whose infectious form is DNA).
The researchers from Innes-Sainsbury found that RNase H from HIV
functioned to replace CaMV Rnase H ands allowed the chimera virus
replicated in plants. When the RNA viral chromosome strand is copied
to make DNA the RNase H must remove the copied RNA to allow the DNA
strand to make a complementary copy to form double helix DNA. The two
viruses (HIV and CaMV) are closely enough related to have exchangeable
parts.
If the two viruses should meet in nature they could recombine to form
chimeric viruses with potentially devastating properties.
Furthermore, the CaMV promoter used in essentially all GM crops is
clearly shown to form a structure hyperactive in DNA recombination.
HIV sequences functioned in the CaMV promoter.
It is clear that HIV and CaMV exchange components and genes in the
laboratory. It is clear that , given contact between the two viruses,
exchange to form chimeric virus in nature will take place. The
assumption that CaMV genes are rapidly destroyed and eliminated in
mammalian digestion has not been verified in the laboratory. Wounded
plants can exchange cellular fluids with wounded mammals and pollen
deeply penetrates the airways of mammals.
Was the world dealing with rational scientists the risk versus
benefit equation would have shifted against the use of CaMV genes in
crops planted to many million acres.
Many thanks to Mark Griffiths for pointing out the important report.
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