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Guardian Debate - 28th Feb 99
Steve Jones, Professor of Genetics at UCL last night admitted that he
didn't agree with the release of GMOs into the environment because of what
evolution was going to do with them. "If the vectors can get in; they
can get out again" and I quote. Jones spoke of the "leaking of
genes" being a real hazard to the environment. He said that there was
once a time when biologists thought that the nature of species was simply
a matter of reproductive biology. "We now know that this is wrong;
genes can leap and move about in the most extraordinary way."
Molecular analysis is demonstrating that genes move horizontally within
nature and that this natural genetic evolution explains the build up of
antibiotic resistance; a clear example of horizontal gene transfer. "Genes
hop arround and we need to consider this aspect of GM plants, advance the
arguments and do more science." says Jones.
I asked him why more molecular biologists who understood this weren't
adding their voices to this debate. He didn't know the answer but agreed
that scientists could take more responsibility for their science and avoid
the pitfalls of "know nothing journalists" mis-representing the
issues. He agreed that a paradigm shift was underway in molecular genetics
and that our understanding of biology was moving towards a more holistic
view as a result of molecular phylogeny.
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