IN THE MAGAZINE

THE NUCLEOTIDAL WAVE

The Front Line of Mutant Food

BY FREDERICK KAUFMAN
PHOTOS BY JAMES ORLANDO

Anthers (the part of the stamen that contains the pollen) of muscadine grapes are infused with genes that cause them to glow in the dark. It looks like something created by a farmer who is really into raving, but it’s actually a way of letting the scientists know the gene splice was successful. (Photo courtesy of the Mid-Florida Research and Education Center Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.)

For 50 bucks an hour, the UC Davis Plant Transformation Facility, one of the premier genetic-modification labs in the US, will offer its services to anyone with a dish of DNA, a vegetable, and a mutated dream. It is a place where ordinary supermarket fruits and vegetables are converted into new and improved species and has been home to more than 13,000 “transgenic events,” which is what molecular biologists call it when they blast DNA from one life-form into another. I recently traveled to Yolo County, California, to examine one of the laboratory’s recent successes: molecular pre-seedlings of Thompson seedless grapes that have been spiked with genes from a jellyfish. These grapes are commonly sold as produce and used to make table and box wines, and this infusion fortifies the fruit against a deadly disease. It also makes them glow in the dark.

I walked down the linoleum of Robbins Hall, past the green emergency shower, and stopped in front of Room 192. Behind the door I imagined a coven of menacing scientists with sweaty brows, feverishly trying to graft human limbs onto the trunks of lemon trees. On the bulletin board, someone had scrawled in capital letters, “NOTHING IS REAL.” OK, noted.

I walked in and met the soft-spoken facility manager David Tricoli, who over the course of his career has worked with transgenic cantaloupe, transgenic squash, and transgenic zucchini, not to mention transgenic alfalfa, cherries, lettuce, rice, tobacco, and walnuts. “I’m a big proponent of biotech foods, and a lot of what we do is plant stem-cell research,” Tricoli told me. “It’s a powerful way to improve plants.”

Before Tricoli got into the plant-transformation business, he had studied to become a priest. Given his religious background and training, I figured he might sympathize with the moral concerns and spiritual anxieties some harbor about the quiet stockpiling of a new generation of fruits and vegetables, all of them substantially different from the way nature intended. And isn’t it only natural to fear crops that appear to be normal but are in fact as programmed, designed, and manipulated as a Cheeto, a Twinkie, or an iPod?

As of today, none of the fruits and vegetables that germinate at the UC Davis lab can be sold by an American supermarket or bought by an American consumer. Although the FDA has given some transgenic crops its official “Generally Recognized as Safe” imprimatur, not a single one of Tricoli’s gene-whacked melons or tubers or greens can so much as be munched by a hungry lab assistant—not only because the plants must leave the laboratory before they are mature enough to fruit but also because none of the results of these particular experiments have been approved by the USDA, the agency responsible for the regulation of genetically altered food.

“I understand why people might be afraid of these foods,” Tricoli said. “But if you can pick it up, hold it, feel it, cook it, eat it—the fear goes away. In 20, 30 years, I’m hoping it will be gone.”

This doesn’t mean that the USDA will reject the literal fruits of Tricoli’s labor indefinitely. Many GM foods can be found throughout the food supply, many of which faced years of scrutiny before being approved. GM soybeans and wheat have been a staple of the American diet for the past decade or so. That means this stuff is in everything from tofu to Snickers bars, and you’ve probably been chewing on it for a while now without a clue. A great deal of supermarket papaya has been genetically modified (look for the Rainbow, Sunred, Sunrise, Sunup, and Sunset brands from Hawaii), and the FDA’s list of approved genetically modified fruits and vegetables includes a type of plum, two squashes, 11 tomatoes, three beets, a chicory, a squash, and a zucchini.

Those who would like to buy and sell more produce of this ilk argue that biopharming will help feed the world by creating next-generation drought-resistant crops, flood-resistant crops, insect-resistant crops, herbicide-resistant crops, and crops that can be grown under harsher conditions than traditional varieties can stand, such as less water, colder winters, hotter summers, and more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere—in other words, GM crops will befit what many see as an inhospitable environmental future.

Still, even if they taste the same, some people might think grapes that are part jellyfish are about as appetizing as a potato with human eyes. So why are people working so hard to merge the DNA of a green grape with that of a squishy evolutional reject? Because something in the jellyfish’s constitution thwarts a pathogen called Pierce’s disease, which has plagued vineyards across the United States for more than a hundred years and cost the grape industry untold millions. Most recently, the disease desiccated vineyards in Southern California and central Texas, and there is particular concern that this epidemic will spread to the Napa Valley (Thompson seedless grapes had the second-highest harvest volume there in 2008). There was no known cure for Pierce’s disease until a consortium of grape growers gave the assignment to Tricoli. He figured out how to inoculate grape embryos against the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa, the active element of the pestilence, which assaults the vascular tissue of grapevines.

In the past, the development of such a disease-resistant grape would have taken farmers and horticulturists decades of domestication and selective breeding: The healthiest vines would be crossbred, grafted, and (if the experimenters were completely satisfied with the results) cloned. Archeobotanists have concluded that it took between 300 and 1,000 years for ancient farmers to perfect corn, and more than 1,000 years to domesticate wheat. We can only speculate how long it took to hone something like the cherry tree, but genetic modification has the potential to maximize growth rates and virtually immunize plants against a variety of diseases. Ultimately, this means farmers will be able to grow more in a variety of climates for less money.

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Comments

	anonymouse, on Oct 6, 2009 wrote: there are glowing mushrooms too. naturally glowing!
Anonymous, on Oct 3, 2009 wrote: Glow?! I want the vision of an eagle and be able to hear like a dog or something. That would be "FUCKING GREAT!"
Anonymous, on Oct 1, 2009 wrote: i want to be a superhero. use me as a test subject.... even being able to glow would be FUCKING GREAT!
Anonymous, on May 1, 2009 wrote: " If there’s a possibility to ingest DNA strands that are immune to disease, would there be a chance that this could be passed on to our genetic makeup? You are what you eat, no?" You eat DNA all the time without it being incorporated into your DNA. It’s called food. There is no evidence to suggest genetic uptake through ingestion.
Anonymous, on Apr 29, 2009 wrote: this is what comes out of people thinking too hard about what they are eating. just put it in your mouth, no questions asked (thats what she said)
Anonymous, on Apr 29, 2009 wrote: I did a project on genetically modified foods in school and its a really complex issue. On the one hand , there are potential health risks (though none officially sutdied or proved) and on the other hand it could serve as a potential solution to the ever approaching global food crisis... so whats it gonna be?
Anonymous, on Apr 28, 2009 wrote: I just had a scary thought. If the climate does change and our current crops are no longer viable, what does this mean for the seedbanks that we have buried to withstand nuclear fallout? They wouldn’t grow? That is a scary thought.
	duck duck goose, on Apr 28, 2009 wrote: soon all our grown food and lot of our meat will be genetically altered. we should warm to the idea because there’s no stopping it now. those of you that are scared by this should consider that if global warming continues, we will have to use genetically altered crops in order for them to grow at all.
Anonymous, on Apr 24, 2009 wrote: If there’s a possibility to ingest DNA strands that are immune to disease, would there be a chance that this could be passed on to our genetic makeup? You are what you eat, no?
Anonymous, on Apr 24, 2009 wrote: I hope I’m not coming off to forward by saying this, but that is a very, very sexy potato.
Anonymous, on Apr 24, 2009 wrote: I love this shit, but how expensive is it?
Anonymous, on Apr 24, 2009 wrote: Oh no! I have a fear of ocean critters as it is. I dont want to be stung by a jelly fruit.
Anonymous, on Apr 24, 2009 wrote: As much as it may be slightly fucking with god. I am all for the idea that we are able to create more amounts of resilient food considering there will be approximately 28 billion people on this planted by 2023.
	cat power, on Apr 24, 2009 wrote: I feel like people with religious backgrounds are WAYYY more scientific than they are willing to admit.
Anonymous, on Apr 24, 2009 wrote: Imagine the possibilities with marijuana. I don’t want to take away from Tricoli’s work -- it is incredible. But if pot is already the strongest it has ever been, we could manufacture a strain where one hit would lay you out for a day. That would be scary but I’d love to see someone try it.
	the max, on Apr 24, 2009 wrote: shit, the broccoli plant looks like an optical illusion or like superbugs from the apocalypse tore into it.
Anonymous, on Apr 24, 2009 wrote: avocados have a slim window of goodness. its sorta like when nasa tries to launch a shuttle, there is only a certain window and if they miss it they’re shit outta luck except with ’cados you only lose two bucks.
Anonymous, on Apr 24, 2009 wrote: " instead of growing fruit that never ripens, how about we focus our energy on making fruit that ripens and stays there? like avacados. you only have about three days of optimal guacamole making before they turn to mush." what the fuck dude!? where do you get your avacados? Mine last like one hour tops. sucky yucky
	Grant, on Apr 24, 2009 wrote: "Gene bombardment" is the coolest scientific term I’ve heard since "primordial ooze." It’s kind of fucked that drugs are put to market that end up causing horrible side effects but we are so cautious to allow genetically altered fruit to be eaten.
Anonymous, on Apr 24, 2009 wrote: so how long until wineries start putting tiny jellyfish at the bottom of the bottles like worms in tequila?
	tammy faye, on Apr 24, 2009 wrote: soybeans are like the christopher walken of food products. you never know where it’s going to show up in the least expected places.
Anonymous, on Apr 24, 2009 wrote: So if food isn’t approved by the USDA it is illegal to eat? I thought it was only illegal to sell. I don’t see them storming the place and cuffing a research assistant for nibbling on a tomato.
Anonymous, on Apr 23, 2009 wrote: i like sweet potatoes and their insides are already orange. have they fucked with them yet? they make good chips too. and pies. they are pretty much better than normal potatoes in every way.
Anonymous, on Apr 22, 2009 wrote: The transgenic broccoli is very neat. I’m worried that if these plants work too well, though, that they will overtake the normal plants. If they also repel bees, we could be in real trouble.
Anonymous, on Apr 22, 2009 wrote: instead of growing fruit that never ripens, how about we focus our energy on making fruit that ripens and stays there? like avacados. you only have about three days of optimal guacamole making before they turn to mush.
	ghostfingers, on Apr 22, 2009 wrote: this opens up completely new doors to uncles teasing nephews about eating things. if you thought swallowing a watermelon seed made a watermelon grow in your belly think of what eating jellyfish berries will do!
Anonymous, on Apr 17, 2009 wrote: this reminds me of when heinz introduced purple and green ketchups that supposedly tasted the same. i really think i could tell a difference in taste with the green one. never tried the purple. i’m always down for trying new food shit and it tasted different to me. anyway, that shit crashed and burned hard.
	Kirby Puckett, on Apr 17, 2009 wrote: It’s a shame they won’t last forever on the stem or this would be a sweet way to light your room. Glowing fruit would probably set the mood just right for having naked models dip other vined fruits into your mouth and fan you with palm leaves.
Anonymous, on Apr 16, 2009 wrote: they look like acid test acorns.
	jiminy, on Apr 16, 2009 wrote: it’s all good until you notice jellyfish tentacles starting to grow and you have to pee on yourself to stop the stinging.
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