GENETICALLY MODIFIED PLANTS COULD ELIMINATE FOOD POISONING

[HuckleB]

http://www.popsci.com/scientists-have-invented-new-way-to-remove-e-coli-from-your-food

"This week, as contaminated cucumbers are being recalled across the United States due to a Salmonella outbreak that has killed two people and left more than 340 sick, scientists have announced a new strategy for combating foodborne disease. Their method involves genetically engineering plants to produce antimicrobial proteins, which can then be extracted and applied to contaminated meat and produce.

In a study published on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the scientists engineered tobacco, leafy beets, spinach, chicory and lettuce to produce proteins called colicins, which can kill deadly strains of E. coli. The team, led by scientists from two German biotech companies, Nomad Bioscience and Icon Genetics, found that plants such as tobacco can yield high levels of active colicins. Furthermore, they identified a mixture of two colicins that can efficiently kill all major disease-causing strains of E. coli.

“All of the food outbreaks that have been recorded in the last 15 years or so could have been controlled very well by a combination of just two colicins, applied at very low concentrations,” said Yuri Gleba, CEO of Nomad Bioscience and one of the authors of the paper.

...

Still, Diez-Gonzalez admires the novelty of the scientists’ approach. “The feat of getting this protein to be expressed and produced at significant levels in plants is quite remarkable,” he said. “Just from a technological, scientific point of view, I think this study has a lot of merit.”

..."


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What will those evil scientists think up next?

[progressoid]

1. Hmmm...

This needs more attention.

GD? Good Reads? Science?

[HuckleB]

2. It depends on how much fun you want to have.

Indeed.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. No mention in the article about whether they could develop immunity

and until that's known, the indiscriminate use of an antibiotic like this does not sound a good idea. Prophylactic use of antibiotics in the food industry has already screwed things up once.

[HuckleB]

4. Utilizing generalizations is never helpful.

And pretending that the "food industry has already screwed thing up" is just ludicrous.

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. CDC Threat Report: Yes, Agricultural Antibiotics Play a Role in Drug Resistance

The grave ASSESSMENT ON THE advance of drug resistance , released Monday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, contained some important observations about the relationship between antibiotic use in agriculture and resistant infections in humans. Those observations, combined with remarks made yesterday by the director of the CDC and also with testimony given in the past by other CDC personnel, ought to put to rest what seems like a persistent meme: that the CDC has never said, or doesn’t believe, that agricultural antibiotic use plays a role in the advance of resistance.

This is important because it puts the CDC in line with a substantial body of research pointing to agricultural use playing a role in the emergence of resistance outside farm properties. With the CDC agreeing — plus, to some degree, the Food and Drug Administration — surely it’s time to move on to whether there are things that could be done to curb the risks posed by some ag practices, while respecting the role that livestock-raising in particular plays as a substantial economic sector, and as an engine in feeding the world.

http://www.wired.com/2013/09/cdc-amr-rpt2/

From the OP article:

"Colicins are proteins naturally produced by E. coli strains to kill or inhibit the growth of competing E. coli strains. "

So, we know that some E. coli strains can resist some colicins - that's their nature. So evolved resistance should be an obvious concern.

No, it's not 'ludicrous'. It's a reminder of the science involved.

[HuckleB]

6. And that is entirely different from the topic at hand.

You just proved my point.

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. Both are about routine use of methods to kill bacteria in food production

that it's known that bacteria have varying genetic resistance to, rather than using existing methods of good hygiene.

Your point appears to be that you want to ignore any potential problems without even discussing them.

[HuckleB]

8. LOL!

You keep trying to create your own reasons for what I post. I'll note that you want to compare very different processes.

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. You haven't made any meaningful comment in this thread so far

You posted the excerpt, and have then just made sarcastic remarks, or effectively said just "you're wrong", without bothering to explain why you think I'm wrong. So, yes, I have to give reasons for what you post; you are not trying explain your reasons.

The processes are similar, in that they both require the treatment of everything, rather than just for specific illnesses. With antibiotics in agriculture, they have been fed to all animals even if they're not sick; with this process, it would be sprayed on all meat (and, presumably produce, since the article suggests that, though the tests were on pork steaks).