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AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY SOCIETY AMERICAN CHEMICAL LXXXI NUMBER 9 NOVEMBER 2019 VOLUME SECTION CALIFORNIA IT'S ELEMENTARY PART 3 (B. MOTZER) PAGE 5 3 CHAIR'S MESSAGE PAGE 4 MEETING PAGE WCC REPORT (N. DAVIS) 5 3 (B.IT'S PAGE MOTZER) ELEMENTARY PART NATURAL DEBUNKED GMO (GMWATCH) 7 PAGE BUSINESS DIRECTORY INDEX ADVERTISERS OF 11 PAGE 11 PAGE NOVEMBER MEETING

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AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY CHEMICAL AMERICAN

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California Section

AI and : Protein Engineering and East Bay Biotech

Tuesday – November 19, 2019 – 6:00 to 9:00 PM Amyris 5885 Hollis St. Suite 100 Emeryville, CA 94608

6:00 PM Networking (Refreshments provided) 7:00 PM Welcome, Panel, and Q&A 7:45 PM Concluding Remarks 7:50 PM Networking and Refreshments

Discussion on East Bay research - Come join us to learn more about the future of chemistry, protein engineering, and artificial intelligence within the biotech industry. INDEXINDEX OFOF ADVERTISERSADVERTISERS RobeRobertsonrtson MiMicrolitcrolit BBPP RSVP here! Guests will sign a non-disclosure upon sign-in at the event. Event access is through the general access door facing Hollis Street.

Our Distinguished Panelists:

Yue Yang, PhD Loren Perelman, PhD Louis Metzger, PhD Amyris Riffyn Tierra Biosciences Director, Program Vice President, Scientific Chief Scientific Officer Management Solutions

The event is FREE and open to the community. More information at: calacs.org or email [email protected]

NOVEMBER 2019 P AGE 2 PAGE 11 THE VORTEX has been known to occur for decades and most forty years. Published monthly except July & August by the California Section, American Chemical Society. many other processes of HGT from bacte- “What the authors of the new paper — Opinions expressed by the editors or contributors to THE VORTEX do not necessarily refl ect ria to multicellular organisms have been and the reporters writing about it — claim THE VORTEXthe offi cial position of the Section. Th e publisher reserves the right to reject copy submitted. demonstrated in the laboratory. So we’ve as a surprise is based on the existence of Subscription included in $15 annual dues payment. Nonmember subscription $15. known for over a half century about HGT, a sequence incorporated over evolution- MAGAZINE OF THE CALIFORNIA SECTION, AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY even between kingdoms of organisms. ary time into the genome of a plant. This Agrobacterium DNA in sweet potatoes introgression implicated long processes of EDITOR: CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Louis A. Rigali Evaldo Kothny isn’t ‘natural transgenics’; it's the outcome trial-and-error in a complex context which 255 4th St. Ste #101 Oakland 94607 510-268-9933 William Motzer of a natural process. cannot be reproduced in the genetic engi- ADVERTISING MANAGER: Vince Gale, MBO Services “Ironically, especially in the 1990s many neering laboratory. The ‘thing’ resulting in Box 1150 Marshfi eld MA 02050-1150 781-837-0424 EDITORIAL STAFF: who were developing or selling GM crops the end may look similar, but the process OFFICE ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER Julie Mason Evaldo Kothny attempted to minimise the frequency or ef- and context through which that ‘thing’ 2950 Merced St. # 225 San Leandro CA 94577 510-351-9922 Lee Latimer PRINTER: came to be is what really matters. Alex Madonik fects of HGT. Indeed, they also tried to de- Quantity Postcards Margareta Sequin fi ne it in ways that were so restrictive and “The people writing this paper know 255 4th Street #101 Oakland CA 94607 510-268-9933 Linda Wraxall Printed in USA on recycled paper Wally Yokoyama unusual that it would be diffi cult to prove. nothing about what processes led to the Patrick Lee For advertising and subscription information, call or write When contradictions to this view inevita- genomic transformation they encountered. the California Section Offi ce, 510 351 9922, offi [email protected] bly appeared, it was reconstructed as evi- They also know nothing about the process- California Section Web Site: http://www.calacs.org dence that HGT is common and therefore es (ecological, evolutionary, social) that HGT from or to GM crops was no different these things may infl uence. Chair's Message will discuss “Protein Engineering and East than HGT from anything else. That some- “They are content with describing the Bay Biotech”. This event is free but will how equated to it not being a new risk. ‘thing’ instead of the process. At this level, require registration. If you are interested in Holiday season “The point is that when we move genes, they are right, just as defenders of crop attending any of our events, please e-mail is upon us and we we create organisms with no history of safe genetic engineering are right when they [email protected] to register. have a full pallet of use and they should be tested for safety, make up true but irrelevant arguments to We’re in the process of fi lling out our activities planned for consistent with international agreements. avert scrutiny of the safety of their work. 2020 Executive Committee and you can our members and the When people move genes into plants, we They say, ‘DNA is DNA is DNA’, as if help by voting to fi ll the various positions general public this move constructs that we have pieced to- the chemical reality of the molecule was up for election. We will announce the fi nal month. gether from an average of 8 different spe- all that we needed to know — without ac- position after the close of elections so stay On November 2nd, cies simultaneously. In my 25 years of knowledging the role played by many other tuned and make sure to vote! the California Section will have a booth at work on HGT, I've seen no precedent for aspects, such as the DNA sequence. Finally, our next executive committee the Bay Area Science Festival taking place this kind of transfer so quickly. When HGT “By this logic, a play by Shakespeare meeting will take place at the Lafayette at Oracle Park. Stop by to say “hello” and occurs in nature, nature has a chance to would be equivalent to an article in the Library on November 5th. If you are participate in activities we have planned react, respond and adjust over many mil- tabloid press, on the grounds that both interested in learning more about our at our booth. On November 8th, the fi rst lennia to initially very small descendant are made up of letters. But that would be section or would like to become more annual “Bay Area Chemistry Symposium” populations. When we do it, nature is im- nonsense. It is the sequence of letters, the involved, please join us. For more will take place at the brand new Merck mediately bombarded by millions of hect- words, sentences and paragraphs, and the information about this meeting or any of facility in South San Francisco. This event ares of new organisms in only a few years. context in which they are all placed that our upcoming meetings, please e-mail is unfortunately sold out but we plan to “Of course nature can also create organ- makes each work different from the other offi [email protected]. have another event next year. This event is isms – by HGT or other means – that are and lends a specifi c identity and function Remember to follow us on @ organized in close collaboration with the capable of causing us harm. But that is no to each. CaliforniaACS on twitter and we look Silicon Valley Section and made possible reason for us to do it unwittingly to our- "This confusion between ‘thing’ and ‘pro- forward to seeing you at our next event. by amazing volunteers as well as generous selves. Nature can squash us with a rock cess’ has been there all along since a policy Sincerely, sponsors. On November 19th, our third from space, causing injuries indistinguish- decision was made in the US defi ning by Patrick S. Lee Ph.D. able from a car crash. This is not a reason decree and against reason that GMOs were and fi nal “AI & Chemistry” event in 2019 to stop motor vehicle safety testing or rec- ‘substantially equivalent’ to non-GM crops will occur at Amyris and our panelists ommend removing seat belts.” on the basis of their chemistry, not the biol- Dr Ignacio Chapela, associate professor, ogy of the transgenic manipulation.” Gifts & Donations University of California, Berkeley, said: Let's hope that this time, the scientists' Th ank you to all the members and organizations for their generous There is nothing new here, and no sur- message hits home and the Cornell Alli- donations. Th ey help support the programs noted in Chair's message prises. We have known about this for al- ance for Science abandons this particular and others. Donations to the California Section are tax deductible. thread of deceptive reporting. Lou Rigali, [email protected]

NOVEMBER 2019 PAGE10 PAGE 3 THE VORTEX WCC Meeting Report MANYA: The Living History of Marie Curie and must be considered as part of the risk spring, so the process of natural selection (the co-evolution of people and the food The Curies’ dismay at the disruptions in assessment – yet it misleadingly presents On Saturday, October 19, 2019, about plants they are domesticating) would result their lives after winning the ; this fact as showing that GM technology 90 people gathered to watch Susan Marie in a shift toward decreasing the level of the and the irony of receiving the Curies’ is safe. Frontczak present her single-person per- toxin in sweet potatoes, due to the strong longed-for laboratory space only after “Historically, GMO seed companies have formance on the life of Maria “Manya” selection pressure against higher toxin lev- Pierre’s tragic death in a road accident. denied that HGT happened or claimed it Sklodowska Curie. The event was part of els. The show ends with Manya coming out of was unimportant, since they were arguing a celebration of the International Year of “Since the Agrobacterium DNA has no her shell, overcoming her natural shyness to against having to look for any unintended the Periodic Table and was hosted by the direct link to the toxin, there would be no set up X-ray units at fi eld hospitals so that consequences due to the insertional muta- California Section, Women ’ Com- selection pressure to remove the Agrobac- soldiers wounded in World War I could be genesis associated with HGT. mittee, the American Chemical Society, and terium DNA. promptly diagnosed and treated. “Indeed, I wrote the report, ‘Genetic en- the American Association of University “Similar arguments have been raised re- Throughout, the actress used simple props gineering is not an extension of conven- Women. Laney College’s Performing Arts garding GM golden rice. Golden rice needs and gestures to make her point. For example, tional plant breeding’, in January 2000 to Theater met all the requirements of Susan to be evaluated to see if levels of retinoic the table on the right of the stage represented draw attention to the risk of unintended Marie Frontczak and was accessible by acid (a known teratogen), or any other po- Marie’s laboratory and the table on the left consequences due to the insertional muta- public transportation. tentially toxic retinoids, have increased in represented her life outside the lab. She genesis associated with HGT. The show begins with a travel back in time golden rice as an unintended effect. GMO uses shoveling motions while describing the “The US FDA explicitly recognized this to April 1915, as the actress impersonates proponents have argued that if high beta- diffi culties of extracting radium from pitch- risk in 2001, when it proposed requiring Manya recalling her life up to that time, carotene levels could lead to high retinoic blende. Most important, she explained the companies to notify the government at including numerous personal and profes- acid levels and increased birth defects, why science in layman’s terms, fi rst explaining least 120 days before commercializing a sional challenges: haven't we seen such problems with peo- how she used tiny differences in the solubil- transgenic plant variety and named inser- Her early life in Poland, including poverty ple eating carrots, or other foods high in ity of barium and radium salts to separate tional mutagenesis as potential problem: and political repression; beta-carotene? The answer is that humans them, and introducing the formal scientifi c ‘Because some rDNA-induced unintended Her coming to France for education and have co-evolved with their food plants term “fractional crystallization” at the end. changes are specifi c to a transformational forming a professional partnership with over time, so that if there had been variet- fellow scientist Pierre Curie that bloomed Overall, this was an entertaining perfor- event (e.g. those resulting from insertional mutagenesis), FDA believes that it needs to ies of carrots that caused such problems, be provided with information about foods there would be negative selection pressure from all separate transformational events, against those traits so the toxin level would even when the agency has been provided decline over time. With golden rice, there with information about foods from rDNA- has been no co-evolution, so that's why it modifi ed plants with the same intended must be checked for potentially increased trait and has had no questions about such levels of potentially toxic retinoids. foods. In contrast, the agency does not be- Dr Michael Antoniou said: lieve that it needs to receive information “Maybe Agrobacterium genes did insert about foods from plants derived through into the sweet potato genome. But then narrow crosses [in traditional breeding].’ the genetic alteration was selected for fi t- “The notion that this natural engineer- ness, advantage, and crucially, food safety ing of sweet potatoes shows that GM tech- for humans and animals over evolutionary nology is perfectly safe is false. Since we time. This does not happen with GM crops. weren't around to document the early his- And the discovery that Agrobacterium tory of these sweet potatoes, we have no gene sequences have ended up in the sweet idea if they caused problems. potatoes does not equate with the artifi cial “Let's assume that the fi rst ‘natural’ GM combinations of DNA sequences that make sweet potato, in addition to having some up the GM gene units that are introduced into a romantic partnership; mance that honors Curie’s memory and of the Agrobacterium DNA present, also, into GM crops. So this natural event can- The Curies’ constant struggles for income makes her science accessible to the general as an effect of insertional mutagenesis, not be likened to GM technology.” and laboratory space while rearing two public. caused a gene to be turned on that pro- Professor Jack Heinemann, University of daughters; A shorter version of the Manya perfor- duced birth defects, sterility, or reduced Canterbury, New Zealand, said: The herculean task of extracting one mance is available for use in schools. The fertility. As the further breeding occurred “This is an example of horizontal gene tenth of a gram of radium from over a ton California Section of ACS collaborated with there would be variable levels of this par- transfer (HGT). There is nothing unantici- of pitchblende, using a converted shed as a the Korematsu Middle School in El Cerrito, ticular toxin among sweet potatoes. People pated in this discovery because the process laboratory; CA to provide this shorter program for its eating the sweet potatoes with high levels (continued on page 10) continued on page 6 of the toxin would have fewer viable off- NOVEMBER 2019 PAGE 4 PAGE 9 THE VORTEX "The authors say that this particular type were inserted as intact functional genes. It’s Elementary yer named this element helium (Greek for of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) could But as the plant evolved, the genes picked (Part 3) hḗlios for the Sun). At that time, chemical play a role in plant evolution. But it could up mutations (DNA damage) that inac- analysis was not possible, but helium was equally have played a part in plant devolu- tivated them. So the transgenes are not by later determined to be a noble gas. tion – such as an inherited decreased fi t- producing any full-length Agrobacterium Bill Motzer ness. protein but rather a truncated product with New discoveries and confirmation of However, the saving grace of such HGT no serious functional consequence in the earlier experiments of Group 18 elements events occurring over long co-evolution affected plants. This inactivation may ex- As part of the celebration had to wait for over a century. In 1895, between plants and their human and ani- plain why the transgenes have been toler- of the 150th anniversary English physicist John William Stratt mal consumers has been that any harms ated by the plant. of the Russian ’s (Lord Rayleigh) (1842-1919) discovered has been kept localised and limited. Hu- "Producing a genetically engineered publishing of the modern periodic table, in that atmospheric nitrogen samples had a mans and animals, as species, have had the plant in the laboratory is quite different. Parts 1 and 2 (September and October 2019 different density than nitrogen derived time to learn which plants are safe to eat You insert a transgene(s) that is specifi - Vortex), I discussed the known use of 10 from chemical reactions. Lord Rayleigh and which are toxic or otherwise danger- cally designed to persist in the plant and elements by the ancients. In more modern collaborated with Scottish scientist Sir ous. express. Over the past few years this has times, Mendeleev’s periodic table inspired William Ramsay (1852-1916). Rayleigh But with GM, horizontal gene transfer been helped along by a genetic engineer- and encouraged 19th century chemists theorized atmospheric nitrogen was mixed is telescoped into an extremely short time ing procedure called codon optimization, to search for elements not yet discovered with another gas and their experiments period, and into a large global acreage of which in some cases can lead to higher lev- but predicted by his new periodic table. successfully isolated an element that they crops, without the benefi t of co-evolution els of transgene protein production. However, one Group – 18, was not added named argon (Greek for argós, meaning over long periods of time. "In addition, when you have your GM to the periodic table until 1902. These are “idle” or “lazy” because of its nonreactive Irony plant, you introduce it into an artifi cial en- the noble gases (aka, the inert gases or characteristics). They now realized that The irony of the latest PR messaging re- vironment – agriculture. aerogens), which are odorless, colorless, an entire group of gaseous elements was garding the "naturalness" of genetic engi- "But with natural HGT, the consequenc- monatomic gases having relatively low missing from the periodic table. Ramsay neering is that originally, it was the crit- es are selected for over an evolutionary chemical reactivity. also isolated helium for the fi rst time while timescale and in a natural environment, ics of GM who originally fl agged up the The six naturally occurring noble gases treating with acid and heating the radioac- which brings to bear very different pres- issue of HGT, pointing out that it meant are helium (He; Z=2), neon (Ne; Z=10), ar- tive mineral cleveite (an impure form of genes deliberately introduced by genetic sures of survival. And in this natural en- gon (Ar; Z=18), krypton (Kr; Z=36), xenon uraninite or UO2). Cleveite became the fi rst vironment, in the majority of the "natural engineering into one organism might (Xe; Z=54), and the radioactive radon (Rn; known terrestrial source of helium, occur- GMO" plants studied in the new research, move into another by HGT. This concern Z=86). The most recently discovered (2006) ring from the alpha decay of uranium to he- the consequences were inactivation of the was dismissed by GMO proponents, who, element, Oganesson (Og; Z=118) has been lium over time. Helium becomes trapped, invading genes. Perhaps the plants that did as Dr Michael Hansen, senior scientist at predicted to be a noble gas or alternatively accumulating within the mineral’s crystal not manage to inactivate the transgenes Consumers Union, noted below, either it may be a metal; however, its chemistry structure. Cleveite was named after Swed- did not survive. And we simply don't know "denied that HGT happened or claimed it has not yet been investigated because only ish chemist Per Teodor Cleve (1840-1905). what happened to humans or animals that was unimportant". a few atoms have been made. In 1895, along with Nils Abraham Langlet Now the GMO proponents have adopted consumed them. (1868-1936), they succeeded in isolating the reverse strategy and are hyping HGT "Thus, the new research does not show helium from cleveite at about the same time The discovery of the Group 18 elements as if it shows genetic engineering to be that either HGT in nature or genetic engi- as Ramsay’s discovery. "natural" and safe i.e."Natural GMOs" and neering in the laboratory is safe, either for may have begun in 1784, when the English some how silenced the invading genes. the plant that is engineered or the humans chemist and physicist Henry Cavendish (1731-1810) discovered that the atmosphere Ramsay suspected that there were addi- One crucial fi nding of the new paper has and animals that consume it." tional inert gases fi lling the corresponding implications that have apparently gone "GMO sweet potato" quotes still apply: contained a small quantity of a gas that was less reactive than nitrogen. Some scholars spaces above and below argon in the peri- unnoticed by the authors and the Cornell Here's what scientists told GMWatch in odic table. Using the fractional distillation hypesters. This is that most of the so- 2015 at the time of the sweet potato re- attribute that he had discovered helium (which occurs in the atmosphere at ~ 5 of liquid air method, he continued search- called "naturally transgenic" plants that search publication and subsequent wave ing for new noble gases by separating liquid were found to contain Agrobacterium of hype. It equally applies to the latest PR ppmv), but it was most likely argon, because he determined that the unknown air sample air into several components. In 1898, he transgenes had actually inactivated those messaging over the so-called "natural" discovered and named krypton (Greek for transgenes. As the authors state, "the ma- GMOs. was about one percent of atmospheric air. On August 18, 1868, astronomers Pierre kryptós or “hidden”), neon (néos or “new”), jority have stop codons". A stop codon is Michael Hansen, senior scientist, Con- and xenon (ksénos for “stranger”). a structure within messenger RNA that sumers Union, said: Janssen (1824-1907) and Joseph Norman signals a termination of translation into “This paper validates what GMO critics Lockyer (1836-1920) independently and proteins. have said all along: that horizontal gene simultaneously discovered a new element In 1899, Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937) and Dr Antoniou explained: "The transgenes transfer (HGT) is a potential risk of GM in spectral lines observed in the solar U.S. electrical engineer Robert B. Owens chromosphere during a solar eclipse. Lock- continued on Page 6 NOVEMBER 2019 PAGE 8 PAGE 5 THE VORTEX (continued from page 5) In 1902, Mendeleev (who’s original 1869 pe- Natural GMOs" hype debunked riodic table had only seven groups) accepted Details (1870-1940) and simultaneously Pierre evidence for the existence of helium and (1859-1906) and Marie Curie (1859-1906) argon and included them as an eighth group Research has found (yet again) that hori- of hype was generated back in 2015, on the observed a radioactive gas emanating from (Group 0) in his periodic table. In 1904, zontal gene transfer happens in nature – back of a research article announcing that radioactive elements. In 1900, German Rayleigh and Ramsay went on to receive but it doesn't show GM is "natural" or safe, the genome of a cultivated sweet potato physicist Friedrich Ernst Dorm (1840-1915) the 1904 Nobel Prizes in Physics and in say scientists contained gene sequences transferred from while studying radium’s decay chain iden- Chemistry, respectively, for their noble gas "Many plants are naturally GMO, research Agrobacterium through horizontal gene tifi ed a radioactive gas naming it ‘radium discoveries; President of the Royal Swedish fi nds", trumpets an article on the pro-GMO transfer. emanation.’ In 1909, Ramsay and English Academy of Sciences, J. E. Cederblom re- Cornell Alliance for Science website. It The fi nding prompted a media article ti- chemist Robert Whytlaw-Gray (1877-1958) marked that…: “the discovery of an entirely says, "Though much of the controversy tled, “Genetically modifi ed crops? Nature determined radon’s physical and chemi- new group of elements, of which no single around genetically modifi ed crops is driv- got there fi rst: The sweet potato has been cal characteristics, including density and representative had been known with any en by the belief that the process of moving genetically engineered by bacteria”. The melting temperature, proposing that radon certainty, is something utterly unique in the genes from one species to another is 'un- sweet potato fi nding is also cited by the was the heaviest among all known gases. history of chemistry, being intrinsically an natural,' new research shows some 1 in 20 new Cornell article. Radon was originally named niton (Latin advance in science of peculiar signifi cance”. fl owering plants are naturally transgenic. In reality, however, the research fi nding for nitens, meaning “shining”). In 1923, "Dozens of plants, including bananas, regarding "natural" GMOs is, as we have The International Union of Pure and Ap- peanuts, Surinam cherries, hops, cran- said, neither new nor surprising, and there plied Chemistry (IUPAC) named it as radon. berries, and tea, contain the Agrobacte- is nothing about it that would justify de- noon assemblies held in their multipurpose rium microbe — the very same bacterium regulating GMOs. We explained why in room on October 17. that scientists typically use to create GM 2015 in the wake of the sweet potato fi nd- (continued from page 4) The importance of exposing young stu- crops."But in reality, this research fi nding ing. students free of charge. This West Contra dents to Curie’s story was emphasized by a is neither new nor surprising. And contrary But either GMO promoters’ memories Costa Unifi ed School District school was startling interaction before the performance to the impression created by the article, the are short, or they hope that if they repeat chosen because of the very diverse nature at Laney: Elaine Yamaguchi talked to a male implications it has for GMO regulation are the same lies and half-truths often enough, of the 7th and 8th grade student body, and in his late thirties who had never heard of precisely zero. people will come to believe them. So for because it is the only school in El Cerrito Marie Curie. He was curious about the event The Cornell Alliance for Science article their benefi t, and that of anyone who is named after an individual of Asian back- posters and what was going on at the theater, features a paper published in September tempted to believe them this time round, ground — Presidential Medal of Freedom though he eventually decided on a walk in the journal Plant Molecular . here, once again, is the explanation. winner Fred T. Korematsu. Since much of around the lake instead. Although it was Researchers studied the genomes of some Natural horizontal gene transfer conse- Marie Curie’s life history involves attempts clear he was not a scientist, it seems strange 356 dicot (fl owering plants that have two quences happen over evolutionary time to achieve freedom in accessing education, indeed that anyone living on the same planet seed leaves) species and found 15 naturally Scientists have known for years that hori- in speaking her native language (Polish), as the rest of us could not have heard of Ma- occurring transgenic species. “Thus, HGT zontal gene transfer happens in nature as and in obtaining proper research facilities, rie Curie! No matter what these Korematsu [horizontal gene transfer] from Agrobacte- well as in GM. But the crucial difference is this site was most suitable to mesh the middle schoolers become as adults, they will rium to dicots is remarkably widespread,” that in nature, HGT and its consequences natural school themes with the lessons of the have learned the facts of Marie Curie’s life the authors stated. Horizontal gene trans- are selected evolutionary timescales: that show’s main character. Over 700 students and the obstacles she faced and overcame. fer is the movement of genetic material be- is, over hundreds, thousands, or even mil- viewed the program in morning and after- Nicki Davis, PhD tween organisms, other than by the "verti- lions of years. cal" transmission of DNA from parent to That's not to say that HGT in nature is offspring. "safe". Even in nature, HGT might cause The Cornell article suggests that the new potential negative consequences that are fi nding should defuse much of the contro- completely unknown to the scientists who versy around GM crops, on the basis that it wrote the recent study and to everyone shows that moving genes from one species else. to another is natural. The article goes on With this in mind, London-based molecu- to mention a Danish scientist who has re- lar geneticist Dr Michael Antoniou com- portedly created a house plant using Agro- mented on the new paper, "We don't know bacterium, by an unspecifi ed method, and what effects these natural HGT events had believes that the plant should not be classi- on the plants themselves or on consumers fi ed as a GMO. of the plants. It could have been disastrous. New hype, old story. This is not the fi rst What we are seeing are the survivors. time that GMO promoters have waxed lyri- cal about "natural" GMOs. A similar wave continued on page 8)

NOVEMBER 2019 PAGE 6 PAGE 7 THE VORTEX