Howdy, all--
Thought this latest exercise in GM science fiction/fantasy might=20
interest some of you. Note that one justification for pursuing this=20
particular product is that you "would need less fertilizer" for your=20
model suburban yard.
Needs. Ya gotta love em.
p
m
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Geneticist Sows Plot to Kill Lawn Mowers
>
> David Lazarus, Chronicle Staff Writer
> =20
> Tuesday,=20
>December 21, 1999
>
>
> Michael Neff was out mowing his lawn in Southern
> California when inspiration struck.
>
> It occurred to him that this tiresome chore, the bane
> of suburbanites everywhere, could be virtually
> eliminated by creating a genetically engineered
> ``dwarf grass'' that would grow much more slowly
> than ordinary grass.
>
> Now, more than a year later, Neff and other
> scientists have succeeded in isolating a gene that
> limits stem growth in plants. This ``dwarf gene'' may
> allow growers to restrict the height of grass, trees
> and other plants.
>
> The findings were detailed in a paper published in
> yesterday's edition of the Proceedings of the
> National Academy of Sciences.
>
> ``This is incredibly exciting,'' Neff said in a
> telephone interview from St. Louis, where he is now
> an assistant professor of plant genetics at
> Washington University. ``It's a huge step forward.''
>
> At the time of the research, Neff was working as a
> postdoctoral fellow at the Salk Institute for
> Biological Studies in San Diego.
>
> ``You're not ever going to be able to create a plant
> that doesn't need pruning,'' he said. ``Plants need to
> grow to thrive.
>
> ``But if you have something that grows slower, you
> would have to spend less time maintaining it and use
> less fertilizer.''
>
> Along with creating a dark green lawn that hardly
> ever needs to be mowed, Neff said the dwarf gene
> potentially could lead to pint-size fruit trees capable
> of maximizing output in limited areas or stronger,
> tighter timber for the building industry.
>
> The key word here is ``potentially.'' Although the
> gene in question could theoretically be introduced to
> various types of plants, Neff said, scientists have yet
> to see how it would affect grass or trees.
>
> ``We still have a lot of experiments to do,'' he said.
> ``But we are right on the edge of a tremendous
> amount of things that could happen.''
>
> Neff declined to speculate on when such genetically
> engineered plants could be developed. But when
> pressed, he said a no-mow grass could be
> concocted in a year.
>
> Be that as it may, there are doubters, especially as
> far as new-and-improved grass is concerned.
>
> ``I would like to see the end product,'' said Ali
> Harivandi, an environmental horticulturist at a
> University of California plant research facility in
> Alameda. ``I have a suspicion this might not work.''
>
> His chief concern is that a slow-growing grass
> would not accommodate the wear and tear of foot
> traffic.
>
> ``When it is damaged, it would not grow back,''
> Harivandi said. ``When a lawn is damaged from
> playing football, for example, it will recover by
> growing back.''
>
> He is also worried that dwarf grass would have an
> unusually shallow root system, making it more
> susceptible to injury. This is the case with strains of
> slow-growing grass that have been bred over the
> years by horticulturists.
>
> But Joanne Chory, the Salk Institute professor cited
> as ``senior author'' on the dwarf-gene paper (Neff is
> ``first author''), said the genetically altered plants
> may not be prone to such setbacks.
>
> ``It may be possible to make short or dwarf plants
> that are completely normal in every other way,'' she
> said.
>
> Salk researchers took a tobacco plant that would
> normally grow to six feet tall and engineered it to
> reach maturity at just 12 inches.
>
> A hardy, long-lasting grass that might normally grow
> to 12 inches could be limited in theory to mature at
> just a fraction of this amount -- a mere two inches,
> say.
>
> This would be bad news for professional gardeners.
> Some might find their workload significantly
> reduced as homeowners rush to plant
> low-maintenance lawns.
>
> ``If you're strictly a mow-and-blow type of person,
> this could cause problems,'' said Robert Scudder,
> who runs a San Francisco landscaping firm and
> serves on the board of the San Francisco
> Professional Gardeners Association.
>
> ``But I think that highly qualified gardeners would
> have a lot of other stuff to be involved in,'' Scudder
> said, noting that there are hedges to be pruned and
> trees to be trimmed. ``Mowing lawns isn't the only
> thing we do.''
>
> Even so, what if the dwarf gene could be used to
> create hedges that do not need to be pruned, or
> trees that require no trimming?
>
> Scudder dismissed such speculation. First, he does
> not think such a brave new world of landscaping
> ever will emerge. Moreover, he said professional
> gardeners, like plants, will adapt to changing
> circumstances.
>
> ``There's always going to be a need for someone
> out there caring for plants,'' he said. ``Even with
> bioengineering, there's always going to be a need
> for a gardener.''
>
> As for Neff, who played such an instrumental role in
> a development that could dramatically alter the
> lifestyles of homeowners the world over, might a
> Nobel Prize be in his future?
>
> It's way too early for such talk, Neff said. But, he
> added, ``I'm sure someone on the committee mows
> their own lawn.''
>
> =A91999 San Francisco Chronicle Page A3
--============_-1266319091==_ma============
Content-Type: text/enriched; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Howdy, all--
Thought this latest exercise in GM science fiction/fantasy might
interest some of you. Note that one justification for pursuing this
particular product is that you "would need less fertilizer" for your
model suburban yard.
Needs. Ya gotta love em.
p
m
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<excerpt><fontfamily><param>Times_New_Roman</param>Geneticist Sows Plot
to Kill Lawn Mowers
David Lazarus, Chronicle Staff Writer
=20
Tuesday,
December 21, 1999
Michael Neff was out mowing his lawn in Southern
California when inspiration struck.
It occurred to him that this tiresome chore, the bane
of suburbanites everywhere, could be virtually
eliminated by creating a genetically engineered
``dwarf grass'' that would grow much more slowly
than ordinary grass.
Now, more than a year later, Neff and other
scientists have succeeded in isolating a gene that
limits stem growth in plants. This ``dwarf gene'' may
allow growers to restrict the height of grass, trees
and other plants.
The findings were detailed in a paper published in
yesterday's edition of the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences.
``This is incredibly exciting,'' Neff said in a
telephone interview from St. Louis, where he is now
an assistant professor of plant genetics at
Washington University. ``It's a huge step forward.''
At the time of the research, Neff was working as a
postdoctoral fellow at the Salk Institute for
Biological Studies in San Diego.
``You're not ever going to be able to create a plant
that doesn't need pruning,'' he said. ``Plants need
to
grow to thrive.
``But if you have something that grows slower, you
would have to spend less time maintaining it and use
less fertilizer.''
Along with creating a dark green lawn that hardly
ever needs to be mowed, Neff said the dwarf gene
potentially could lead to pint-size fruit trees
capable
of maximizing output in limited areas or stronger,
tighter timber for the building industry.
The key word here is ``potentially.'' Although the
gene in question could theoretically be introduced to
various types of plants, Neff said, scientists have
yet
to see how it would affect grass or trees.
``We still have a lot of experiments to do,'' he
said.
``But we are right on the edge of a tremendous
amount of things that could happen.''
Neff declined to speculate on when such genetically
engineered plants could be developed. But when
pressed, he said a no-mow grass could be
concocted in a year.
Be that as it may, there are doubters, especially as
far as new-and-improved grass is concerned.
``I would like to see the end product,'' said Ali
Harivandi, an environmental horticulturist at a
University of California plant research facility in
Alameda. ``I have a suspicion this might not work.''
His chief concern is that a slow-growing grass
would not accommodate the wear and tear of foot
traffic.
``When it is damaged, it would not grow back,''
Harivandi said. ``When a lawn is damaged from
playing football, for example, it will recover by
growing back.''
He is also worried that dwarf grass would have an
unusually shallow root system, making it more
susceptible to injury. This is the case with strains
of
slow-growing grass that have been bred over the
years by horticulturists.
But Joanne Chory, the Salk Institute professor cited
as ``senior author'' on the dwarf-gene paper (Neff is
``first author''), said the genetically altered
plants
may not be prone to such setbacks.
``It may be possible to make short or dwarf plants
that are completely normal in every other way,'' she
said.
Salk researchers took a tobacco plant that would
normally grow to six feet tall and engineered it to
reach maturity at just 12 inches.
A hardy, long-lasting grass that might normally grow
to 12 inches could be limited in theory to mature at
just a fraction of this amount -- a mere two inches,
say.
This would be bad news for professional gardeners.
Some might find their workload significantly
reduced as homeowners rush to plant
low-maintenance lawns.
``If you're strictly a mow-and-blow type of person,
this could cause problems,'' said Robert Scudder,
who runs a San Francisco landscaping firm and
serves on the board of the San Francisco
Professional Gardeners Association.
``But I think that highly qualified gardeners would
have a lot of other stuff to be involved in,''
Scudder
said, noting that there are hedges to be pruned and
trees to be trimmed. ``Mowing lawns isn't the only
thing we do.''
Even so, what if the dwarf gene could be used to
create hedges that do not need to be pruned, or
trees that require no trimming?
Scudder dismissed such speculation. First, he does
not think such a brave new world of landscaping
ever will emerge. Moreover, he said professional
gardeners, like plants, will adapt to changing
circumstances.
``There's always going to be a need for someone
out there caring for plants,'' he said. ``Even with
bioengineering, there's always going to be a need
for a gardener.''
As for Neff, who played such an instrumental role in
a development that could dramatically alter the
lifestyles of homeowners the world over, might a
Nobel Prize be in his future?
It's way too early for such talk, Neff said. But, he
added, ``I'm sure someone on the committee mows
their own lawn.''
=A91999 San Francisco Chronicle Page A3
</fontfamily></excerpt><fontfamily><param>Times_New_Roman</param></fontfamil=
y>
--============_-1266319091==_ma============--
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