BPR Mailing List Digest: 12/01/99

Philologos
BPR Mailing List Digest
December 1, 1999

Digest Home | 1999 | December, 1999

To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - The secret of life
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 1 Dec 1999 08:36:22 -0500

From: "Moza" <moza7@netzero.net>

The secret of Life

Today, scientists in London, Washington and Tokyo will announce
that they have cracked the genetic code of human chromosome No
22.

Pay attention: this is important. As important, they say, as the
discovery that the Earth moves round the Sun or that we are
descended from apes For we are about to be shown the first
chapter of the Book of Life, and its contents will change our world
for ever

By Steve Connor

1 December 1999

Pluck a single hair from your head and take a look at the small,
white root of living tissue at the base of the shaft. What you have
between your fingers is the complete recipe for making another
you. Each one of the microscopic cells contains a book of
humanity, written in the 23 chapters of the pairs of chromosomes.
If this digital code could be downloaded on a CD-rom and sent to
an intelligent extraterrestrial civilisation, it would contain just about
all the instructions necessary for making a human being on another
planet.

Sending the recipe for a man or woman into space is not, of
course, the intention of the Human Genome Project, the massive
international effort to decode the entire complement of 23
chromosomes. But understanding how we are made from the bare
instructions of our genes is what is behind the estimated $3bn
(=A31.9bn) being spent on unravelling the code of our DNA. This
week, a major milestone is reached in that effort with the unveiling
in London, Washington and Tokyo (today) and the formal
publication (tomorrow) of the complete genetic code of the smallest
of the human chromosomes, number 22. The remaining
chromosomes will be completely deciphered within three to five
years, opening the door to a huge library of knowledge relevant to
medicine, human origins and our place in the evolution of life.

"The end of the Human Genome Project is the beginning of the real
genetics of mankind," says Sir Walter Bodmer, one of the
architects of the project, and now master of Hertford College,
Oxford.

Decoding the human chromosomes marks the dawn of a new era
of unrivalled scientific achievement, says John Sulston, director of
the Sanger Centre in Cambridge and leader of the team that
deciphered chromosome 22. "Think of the human genome as the
Book of Life. We are about to read the first chapter, as important
an accomplishment as discovering that the Earth goes round the
Sun, or that we are descended from apes."

Twenty years ago, the prospect of being able to read that book of
life was a mere twinkle in the eye of scientists such as Bodmer
and Sulston. Their vision slowly became reality during the Eighties.
At a series of meetings on the east and west coasts of America =96
mostly at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York and the
University of California =96 the cognescenti met to discuss their
dream. By 1986 the blueprint for how it could be done was drawn
up, backed by a string of Nobel laureates, not least of whom was
the American molecular biologist Jim Watson, co-discoverer of the
structure of the DNA helix. In 1988 they established an
international body to take charge of the effort, supported by the
huge financial muscle of the US government.

Few people realise that Mikhail Gorbachev, the former Soviet
leader, played a small but decisive role in instigating the genome
project. As a result of Gorbachev's perestroika, and the subsequent
thaw in the Cold War, the American Department of Energy began
to look for alternative jobs for its immensely expensive nuclear
weapons laboratories. Rather than shrink its military research
operation, the department instead offered its powerful
supercomputers to the molecular biologists who dreamed of
unravelling the entire DNA code of man.

It is no mean feat to decipher the DNA packed into each of the 23
pairs of human chromosomes. If each molecule of DNA in the 46
chromosomes of just one cell were unravelled and placed end to
end, they would stretch for 6ft.

It is this 6ft of information that constitutes the book of man. And
what a book. There is enough information in the DNA of one cell to
fill 5,000 conventional books, or about a dozen copies of the
Encyclopaedia Britannica. Writing out the book with each letter of
the genetic code taking up one centimetre would result in a text as
long as the river Danube. Yet it can all sit comfortably in a single
cell on the tip of a human hair.

For those scientists gathering at the interminable scientific
meetings at the end of the Eighties, it seemed a daunting task.
Most thought that, even with the best computers available, they
would be lucky to complete the job by 2010. Some cynics even
calculated that the finishing-date would neatly coincide with their
retirement, guaranteeing them full employment for life. Then along
came a man called Craig Venter, who upset the apple cart by
setting up a rival decoding operation.

Venter is a maverick. He left school in California at 17, with few
qualifications apart from the surfboard skills learnt as a teenage
beach bum. He was drafted to Vietnam in 1967 and served as a
medical orderly in Da Nang, which saw some of the most horrific
casualties in the war. The experience changed his life, and on his
return to America he set about qualifying in medical science. He
completed his two degrees in just six years. By 1990 he, too, was
involved in the genome project, having devised a "quick and dirty"
way of deciphering the hugely long human DNA code.

One of the problems scientists have faced with DNA is that most of
it =96 more than 90 per cent =96 is apparently meaningless. Only a
small fraction has useful information in the form of the 80,000 or so
human genes. The rest is "junk" DNA that just gets in the way of
the decoders. Venter used nature's own way of editing out this junk
to get to the real meat of the genetic story.

In the early Nineties, Venter fell out with the official genome project
after he applied to patent the fragments of genes he was
discovering =96 and as a result he left to set up his own rival, private
operation. Suddenly the comfortable world of the genome masters
turned into an unseemly race; on the one hand was the leviathan
might of the US government and the Wellcome Trust (the world's
biggest research charity, and funder of the Sanger Centre), aided
by the ageing doyens of molecular biology; and on the other was a
bunch of privateers epitomised by Venter, whose quick and dirty
approach using highly specialised skills threatened to beat the
DNA dinosaurs to the finishing line.

In public, everyone involved denies that there is a race. "That our
work is so often portrayed as a race to get the human genome
sequenced is very sad. The real point is to get to that new starting-
line," says Venter, referring to the future opportunities the genome
offers for medicine in the 21st century and beyond. Nevertheless,
he accepts that he has ruffled a few feathers. "We're changing the
rules, and that upsets people," he says. Jim Watson, a man not
noted for his tact, has meanwhile dismissed Venter's approach as
work that "any monkey" could do.

Yet the fact remains that there is more to the human genome
project than the pure pursuit of knowledge. Drug companies in
particular see the venture as a vital element in their continuing
battle to develop new medicines, and to keep ahead of the
competition. Bodmer, a former head of the Imperial Cancer
Research Fund, says that deciphering the genes will have an
enormous impact on understanding and treating common, currently
incurable diseases, notably cancer, as well as more obvious
inherited disorders such as cystic fibrosis. Knowing the genetic
mechanism behind a disease such as cancer allows
pharmaceutical companies to design drugs specifically targeted
against that gene defect, he says.

Another growth area will be in so-called "personalised medicine",
which envisages a day when doctors are able to investigate a
patient's genetic make-up and compare it against the standard
genome in order to offer specific advice or treatment to lessen the
risk attached to an inherited predisposition, such as heart disease
or even alcoholism. Drug companies see the genome as an
opportunity for designing drugs tailored to specific patients, which
might avoid the side-effects experienced by people with a certain
genetic constitution.

In a neat twist to the genome race, a consortium of some of the
world's best-known drug companies and gene-research institutes
announced earlier this year that they intend to co-operate on a type
of genetic mapping involving the discovery of the smallest DNA
mutations. The co-operation, however, is not entirely philanthropic.
The aim is to publish the information on the Internet as soon as it
is found, thereby frustrating small fry such as Venter who would be
unable subsequently to claim a patent on data that is freely
available in the public domain.

Publication of the genetic code of chromosome 22 by the official
genome project marks a defining moment that many scientists
believe will revolutionise almost every aspect of medicine and
human biology. "Being able to read the genome will tell us more
about our origins, our evolution, our nature and our minds than all
the efforts of science to date," says Matt Ridley, the British
science writer. "I truly believe we are living through the greatest
intellectual moment in history. Bar none."

Chromosome 22 marks the start, and the rest of the genome will
soon follow. The ultimate mystery of our DNA will then begin to
unfold in the language of the genes. And the entire book is there,
on the tip of that single shaft of hair.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/UK/Science/sciencefeat0111299.shtml

via: isml@onelist.com

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Schoolgirl confesses
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 1 Dec 1999 09:28:23 -0500

From: "Moza" <moza7@netzero.net>

A schoolgirl has confessed that she made up a story about a
teacher persecuting her. Twelve-year-old Hanna Darnell has
admitted lying about being punished for refusing to curse in
class at C.B. Eller Elementary School in Elkin, N.C. Her story
was disseminated by The Rutherford Institute and published Nov.
30 in Religion Today.
..."We were deceived and misled, and we deeply regret the
distress this has caused the persons who were falsely accused,"
said Steven H. Aden, chief litigation counsel for The Rutherford
Institute.

http://www.religiontoday.com

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Doomsday group lives in Bible days, awaiting end
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 01 Dec 1999 09:28:58 -0500

From: owner-bpr@philologos.org

Doomsday group lives in Bible days, awaiting end
November 30, 1999
By Paul Holmes

MOUNT GERIZIM, West Bank (Reuters) - In their handmade linen
robes, sandals and cloth head-dresses, the White family look
like extras on the set of a film about the Bible.

But the family of seven from Detroit, Michigan, are living the
Bible days for real in the Promised Land getting ready for what
they hope and pray will be the end of the world.

"We're on a pilgrimage out of Babylon," said the mother of the
family, Ader, 39. "I believe the millennium is Judgment Day and
we are going to be judged."

Full story:
http://news.excite.com/news/r/991130/14/millennium-doomsday

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Little Zachary has rights, too ...
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 01 Dec 1999 09:37:12 -0500

From: owner-bpr@philologos.org

Finding Common Ground: Little Zachary has rights, too, when it
comes to reading a Bible story in class

By CHARLES C. HAYNES/Gannett News Service

Remember Zachary? Almost four years ago, his first-grade
teacher told him that he couldn't read his favorite story to the
class. Why not? Because, said the teacher, the story was from
the Bible. Zachary went home hurt and upset.

After failing to work things out with the school, Zachary's
parents filed suit. Last year a lower court sided with the
school, ruling that the teacher had the authority to prevent
Zachary from reading his story to the class. Now a three-judge
panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld that
decision.

Full story:
http://detnews.com:80/1999/religion/9911/01/11020024.htm

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Arutz-7 News items (12/1/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 1 Dec 1999 14:07:12 -0500

From: "Moza" <moza7@netzero.net>

FINAL-STATUS IN DOUBT

A senior political figure in Jerusalem says that it is doubtful
whether an agreement on final-status principles can be reached by
February 2000, as Barak has promised. The source says that the
chances of reaching agreement even on one of the points in
dispute are slim. The two sides met today, and will meet next
week - for their 8th meeting - in Ramallah.

Six thousand pro-Arafat activists demonstrated in support of the
PA in Ramallah today. The Fatah-organized rally came in
response to sharp protests sounded recently by Palestinian
intellectuals against PA corruption. Several people were arrested
in connection with the anti-Arafat protests - leading to harsh
criticism by Palestinian civil-rights groups - and three of them will
be made to stand trial. In exchange for the dropping of charges
against twelve others, the latter published "clarifications" today, in
which they explained that they did not mean to publicize their
criticism, but only to bring it to Arafat's attention.

WAQF OPENS NEW TEMPLE MOUNT ENTRANCE

The police have decided not to seal the new entrance to the
Temple Mount opened by the Moslem Waqf a few days ago, and
the decision has been approved by Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
The police claim that the entrance is needed as an additional exit
for large crowds in case of emergency. The Jerusalem Municipality
and the Antiquities Authority have protested the decision. MK
Benny Elon (National Union), who called yesterday for the entrance
to be closed, terms the decision not to do so a "surrender to the
Islamic Movement."

WOMAN ARRESTED FOR CLOSING EYES

A Jewish Quarter resident was arrested yesterday for simply
closing her eyes on the Temple Mount. The 49-year-old widow told
Arutz-7's Ron Meir today that she went up to the Temple Mount to
walk in the areas permissible according to Jewish law. When she
sat down on a bench and closed her eyes, she was accosted by
the Waqf police and interrogated. When she told them that she is
a student at Hebrew University, studying the Second Temple
period, they responded by asking, "You really believe there was a
Second Temple? You plan to destroy the dome [of the Rock] and
build the Second Temple!" The Waqf officials then turned her over
to a detachment of the Israel police stationed in the Old City,
where she was held and questioned for four hours.

During the questioning, a police officer told her that she was being
charged with the crime of "praying on the Temple Mount. He
explained to me that closing my eyes 'was an act of prayer.'" On
this issue, Atty. Baruch Ben-Yosef said today that the Waqf has
no legal right to detain people, and neither is there a law on the
Israeli books forbidding prayer on the Temple Mount.

"The policeman forbade me from returning to the Temple Mount,"
continued the woman, "and instructed me to report to the police
every two days until I leave the country on December 15th, or else
risk a 4,000 shekel fine. I told the officer that even though my
tourist visa will expire on the 15th, I was not planning to leave the
country, since I am in the process of making aliyah [immigration to
Israel]. At this point, our conversation was suddenly interrupted by
a big commotion, and a policewoman entered the building holding
three knives. Someone outside had just tried to stab another
police officer! [See next article] The policeman dealing with me said
that I could go. When I walked out, I saw the attacker lying on the
ground..."

PALESTINIAN BRAZENNESS

An IDF soldier in Hevron overpowered an Arab terrorist who
attempted to stab him this morning. The soldier was not hurt, and
the attacker was taken to the Hevron police. A similar attack
occurred in Jerusalem yesterday, when two Arabs entered the
Kishle police station in the Old City. One attempted to stab a
policeman at the front entrance, while the other terrorist went for
the policeman sitting behind the front desk. Other policemen fought
off the attackers and arrested them.

Earlier this week, a group of 15 Palestinians were bold enough to
chop down, in broad daylight, an old Jewish orchard of pecan trees.
Alon Bukara, of Moshav Hagor near Rosh Ha'ayin, recounted what
happened: "We woke up in the morning, and found,
unbelievably, that our landscape had changed overnight. An
orchard almost 30 years old, with 88 pecan trees, on 14 dunams
[3.5 acres], had simply disappeared! We then looked over at the
next field, and saw them cutting down the trees there as well - 15
workers from Jenin, with 8 or 9 saws, stealing our trees by the light
of the day and loading them onto trucks! We called the police, and
they actually told us that we should bring the suspects to the
station. We were only about five people, and we couldn't do this,
obviously... Finally, after a while, the police troubled themselves to
come." Speaking with noticeable pain, Bukara said, "These were
beautiful, giant trees. It was not a particularly profitable crop, but
we cared for them out of love for the trees and for the land..."

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.arutzsheva.org>
Wednesday, December 1, 1999 / Kislev 22, 5760

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Dec 2, 1999 TV Programs
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 1 Dec 1999 18:27:11 -0500

From: "Moza" <moza7@netzero.net>

8:00 PM Eastern

HIST - ANCIENT ALIENS - Ancient texts refer to
extraterrestrials.(CC)(TVG)

9:00

A&E - INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS - "Stolen Identities" -
High-tech thieves can steal a person's identity without so
much as a birth date.(CC)

TLC - THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE: SECRETS REVEALED -
Experts try to explain mysterious phenomena.(CC)(TVG)

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - What's New (11/24/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 1 Dec 1999 18:51:43 -0500

From: "Moza" <research-bpr@philologos.org>

SPACE TOURISM: DOLE IS OUT OF THIS WORLD.

The Dole Food Company is offering a trip to outer space as a
sweepstakes prize. All you need to enter is two bar code proofs-of-
purchase from any Dole product. The 2-hour sub-orbital flight on a
Vela Space Cruiser, also known as a "vomit comet," will come at
the end of a seven-day astronaut training program. Free
Dramamine included.

4APPLIED PHYSICS: HARNESSING THE LAWS OF NATURE
FOR POLITICS.

While the Democratic, Republican and Reform parties engage in
destructive internal squabbles over the selection of their
presidential candidates, the Natural Law Party has peacefully
united behind John Hagelin. A string theorist with a PhD in
physics from Harvard, Hagelin is the author of Manual for a Perfect
Government. The book describes how a superstring field generated
by many minds meditating in unison would radiate
throughout society reducing stress and spreading tranquility.

via: transhumantech@onelist.com

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Burying world's extra CO2 on ocean bottom
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 1 Dec 1999 18:59:39 -0500

From: "Moza" <research-bpr@philologos.org>

Burying world's extra CO2 on ocean bottom

Eric Niiler
Special to The Christian Science Monitor

SAN DIEGO

Federal energy officials have joined
scientists worldwide in studying the
disposal of carbon dioxide as a way of
slowing down the "greenhouse effect."

The US Department of Energy has
funded two carbon "sequestration"
programs - one on land and one in the
deep ocean - for $9 million. In
September, it announced another $18
million in research grants.

Scientists are just now beginning to
examine the disposal of carbon dioxide,
one of the primary greenhouse gases
linked to global warming. The idea is to
get rid of carbon dioxide from factories,
cars, and other sources of fossil fuel
burning before the odorless gas reaches
the atmosphere.

"This is to find out which carbon
sequestration options are the best in the
future and which ones will be verifiable,"
DOE program manager John Houghton
says about the new research grants.
"We're concerned about this in the long
term."

Other countries have already begun pilot
projects. A state-owned Norwegian
petroleum company, for example, has
been pumping 1 million tons of liquified
carbon dioxide each year into depleted
natural gas aquifers below the North Sea
since 1996. Japan is conducting research
into deep-ocean disposal, and others
have suggested funneling liquified carbon
dioxide into abandoned coal or salt
mines, or perhaps bubbling it through
CO2-scrubbing algae ponds.

Because of the vast areas available,
ocean-disposal is seen as the most
practical method of carbon disposal - as
long as it doesn't alter the ocean
chemistry and harm marine life.

The world's largest deep-ocean
sequestration project is scheduled to
begin next year off the coast of Hawaii.
The $5 million, four-year experiment will
pump liquified CO2 from a laboratory in
Kona, Hawaii, through a flexible pipe,
down to nearly 3,000 feet. Funded
mainly by Japan with assistance from the
US, Canada, and Australia, the project
still faces environmental reviews from
local officials.

Despite these international efforts, the
US government has balked at this new
field of research because of political
concerns, according to federal officials.
Some members of Congress believe that
carbon sequestration will lead to a de
facto passage of the international climate
change treaty known as the Kyoto
Protocols (a treaty signed by President
Clinton and opposed by the Senate).
And some environmentalists oppose
sequestration because they believe it will
allow industry to continue burning fuels
that cause the problem in the first place.

Scientists themselves also question
whether injecting CO2 into the ocean
could be dangerous to sea creatures, or
just prove to be too expensive.

DOE officials recently invited scientists
to a workshop in Maryland to discuss
carbon sequestration research and
unveiled a draft study of existing
technologies
(www.fe.doe.gov/coal_power/sequestration/index_rpt.html).

The new effort by the DOE includes two
research centers. One at Oak Ridge
National Laboratory in Oak Ridge,
Tenn., will investigate terrestrial methods
of carbon sequestration: using old mines,
planting more trees (which soak up CO2
for photosynthesis), or low-till
agricultural methods that keep carbon
locked up in the soil.

The second program is collaboration
between Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory
and Lawrence Livermore Laboratory to
research deep-ocean injection of CO2.
Researchers will also look into another
option: seeding the upper ocean with iron
(it acts as a fertilizer) in order to produce
a massive plankton bloom, the so-called
"Geritol solution."

Scientists at Moss Landing Marine
Laboratory tried this method in 1995 in
the Pacific Ocean 600 miles west of the
Galapagos Islands. The project worked,
and the plankton bloom took in an
estimated 560 tons of carbon from the
atmosphere. The plankton bloom also
attracted tiny predators that grazed on
the plants like sea-going cows munching
on grass.

More recently, marine scientists from the
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research
Institute (MBARI) and Stanford
University, used a robotic underwater
submersible to inject liquid CO2 into a
glass beaker nearly 12,000 feet below
the ocean's surface.

CO2 dissolves in surface waters, but in
deep water, liquid CO2 is denser than
seawater. At low temperatures and high
pressure, it forms a solid ice-like
structure.

During the experiment this spring, this
CO2 structure expanded until it bubbled
over the beaker.

Ed Peltzer, a marine chemist at MBARI,
watched the experiment on a video
camera from a research vessel. Slowly,
he says, the gelatinous blob of CO2 "fell
to the bottom and rolled down the hill
out of sight."

Several fish were drawn to the silvery
structure, and poked around, but quickly
swam away. Dr. Peltzer says high
concentrations of CO2 are toxic to most
animal life. What's more, high CO2
makes the water more acidic.

Because of a malfunction on the
submersible, Peltzer and the others
weren't able to see if the CO2 blob
dissolved or had a permanent effect on
bottom-dwelling creatures. "That's the
next question we have to answer,"
Peltzer says.

http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/1999/12/02/fp17s1-csm.shtml

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - 'Trojan gene' could wipe out fish
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 1 Dec 1999 19:07:31 -0500

From: "Moza" <research-bpr@philologos.org>

'Trojan gene' could wipe out fish
GM salmon are currently confined to labs

Just one genetically-modified (GM) fish could wipe out local
populations of the species if released into the wild, biologists have
warned.

The least fit individual in the population is getting all the matings -
this is the reverse of Darwin's model

Professor William Muir The researchers believe their results are the
first evidence that GM organisms could have catastrophic
consequences on their own species. They also believe that other
organisms could face similar risks from GM relatives.

William Muir and Richard Howard of Purdue University, Indiana,
US, have dubbed their proposal the "Trojan gene" hypothesis,
which is reported in New Scientist magazine.

"This resembles the Trojan horse," said Professor Muir. "It gets
into the population looking like something good and it ends up
destroying the population."

Human growth hormone

The researchers studied fish carrying the human growth hormone
gene hGH, which increases growth rate and final size. Biologists in
the US and Britain are experimenting with salmon engineered in a
similar way, although no-one has yet begun commercial
production.

Muir and Howard included hGH in embryos of a fish called the
Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes), a common aquarium fish that
is widely used in research. They found that modified individuals
became sexually mature faster than normal fish and produced
more eggs.

The model predicts a wipe-out

Other experiments, using non-modified fish, showed that larger
males attracted four times as many mates as their smaller rivals.
This effect is also known in salmon.

Professor Muir predicts that fish made bigger by genetic
engineering would enjoy the same reproductive advantages. So the
hGH gene would quickly spread through a fish population.

But Muir and Howard also found that only two-thirds of engineered
medaka survived to reproductive age, compared with wild medakas.
So the spread of the growth hormone gene could make populations
dwindle and eventually become extinct.

It would make it very difficult for anyone at the moment to approve
the release of GM fish carrying growth hormone

Professor John Beringer To quantify this, the researchers plugged
their results into a computer model to find out what would happen if
60 transgenic individuals joined a wild population of 60,000 fish.
The population became extinct within just 40 generations. Even a
single transgenic animal could have the same effect, they found,
although extinction would take longer.

"You have the very strange situation where the least fit individual in
the population is getting all the matings - this is the reverse of
Darwin's model," said Professor Muir. "Sexual selection drives the
gene into the population and the reduced viability drives the
population to extinction."

Professor David Penman, a fish geneticist at the University of
Stirling, said there is evidence that some GM fish modified with
growth hormone have reduced sperm production and mating
success.

"If large males tend to mate with large females, this would often
result in matings between GM fish," he added. This would
decrease rather than increase the spread of the gene.

GM warning

But Professor John Beringer of Bristol University, a former
chairman of the committee that advises the UK Government on GM
organisms, says the research is a warning.

"It would make it very difficult for anyone at the moment to approve
the release of GM fish carrying growth hormone," he said. "I would
have to give a great deal of consideration about whether that's an
intelligent route to go down."

Professor Muir says that the model may prove an invaluable tool in
assessing the dangers of GM organisms. He now hopes to test its
predictions in tightly controlled fish farm ponds.

From BBC News,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_545000/545504.st
m
-
Wednesday, 1 December, 1999, 19:04 GMT

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