I think it’s a fair concern in general but fine in this case since the company almost certainly edited in the lux operon which is one of the most well studied and understood gene switches out there. It and similar pathways have been used in many branches of science for decades. I think the novelty here is just that it’s in a consumer product instead.
grober_Unfug@discuss.tchncs.de 4 weeks ago
Probably very unpopular opinion. I don’t get it how you could buy genetically modified plants.
-unpredictable impact on ecosystems -uncontrolled spread through insects/seed -no long term studies available
I really wish people would be more responsible with our environment.
artifex@lemmy.zip 4 weeks ago
grober_Unfug@discuss.tchncs.de 4 weeks ago
Some GMOs are approved and released before we fully understand their long-term ecological or health impacts. While short-term studies may show no harm, ecological processes unfold over decades.
Another thing is that introducing glowing flowers might make genetic modification seem harmless or trivial. This could lead to less critical public debate and a gradual erosion of caution in how such technologies are used.
swelter_spark@reddthat.com 4 weeks ago
According to the website, they can’t reproduce by seed, only by division.
Doxatek@mander.xyz 4 weeks ago
In each seed this gene would segregate some wouldn’t express at all, some lower and if you did it more times more than likely the mutation would be lost
swelter_spark@reddthat.com 4 weeks ago
Is that still the case with gene splicing vs natural mutation?
Doxatek@mander.xyz 4 weeks ago
If the trait or edit is homozygous and you self pollinate the plant the trait will not be segregated out. If it is heterozygous you will get a mix.
When transforming plants you can get hetero or homozygous edits both. I am unsure the genotype of the firefly petunias though.
So if the edit is homozygous it is known as a pure line.
j4yt33@feddit.org 4 weeks ago
I think the concern is more about cross-pollination, not seeds from the plant directly
Anarki_@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 weeks ago
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You don’t need to plant them outside
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Above
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Don’t eat them
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funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 4 weeks ago
depends on your definition of genetically modified. you’d be hard pressed to find any plant that hasn’t been selectively bred, spliced and adapted by humans.
acockworkorange@mander.xyz 4 weeks ago
That’s a disingenuous argument. You can’t selectively breed an completely foreign gene into an organism. I can’t believe this even has to be said, but I guess the GMO lobby gets to people more than I thought.
knightly@pawb.social 4 weeks ago
Yes you can, it just takes a lot more effort to get the right random mutation.
Doxatek@mander.xyz 4 weeks ago
Good luck breeding a plant until it replicates jellyfish DNA for fluorescence.
funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 4 weeks ago
No one lobbied me lol. They cross bred a petunia with a mushroom. It’s roughly the same concept as when humans bred maize.
acockworkorange@mander.xyz 4 weeks ago
No they didn’t crossbred it. Fungi and plants are so far apart in the tree of life that suggesting this is ludicrous. You can’t get a fungal spore and place it in a petunia’s flower and get a hybrid.
DNA manipulation in a lab and selective breeding are fundamentally different. It’s silly to try to compare both.
Doxatek@mander.xyz 4 weeks ago
Not really. They transformed plant cells in a lab with GFP from a mushroom and established a stable transgenic line. This can’t be done without modern techniques. Not the same as breeding them