A Question About Genetic Engineering

[SaxonViolence]

I got to wondering about this the other day:

 

Given enough understanding of Genetic Engineering...

 

Could I, In Principle, Modify Tomato plants to bear Oranges?

 

I believe that Oranges are a bit "Denser" in Cellulose Fiber, Sugar and Calories.

 

However a big Tomato plant may produce over a bushel of Tomatoes—say that I was willing to settle for a half bushel of Oranges...

 

How about nuts?

 

All nuts grow on trees.

 

{Peanuts being a bean with a fortuitous nutty flavor...}

 

Could any conceivable annual be modified to bear Pecans or Walnuts?

 

{The Tomato to Oranges question—to my mind—would be turning a rather plain Sow's Ear into a Wonderful Silk Purse. Tomatoes are quite common amongst the gardening poor during growing season. Even non-gardening poor can expect many gifts of free Tomatoes. At the same time, Oranges are rather Dear.}

 

 

Saxon Violence

[Rade]

Given enough understanding of Genetic Engineering...Could I, In Principle, Modify Tomato plants to bear Oranges?

Not likely. However, in the future genetic engineering may allow tomato plants to bear potato or eggplant, or potato to produce tomato, and other possible combinations because the three plants are closely related, in the Nightshade Family and all in the genus, Solanum. See this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solanaceae. Grafting is now possible among the three species. I cannot locate any research on genetic engineering between tomato-potato, or tomato-eggplant, or potato-eggplant ? ... does anyone know of such research being conducted ?

 

Orange plants and tomato are just too far apart genetically to bear any fruit in terms of genetic engineering.

[SaxonViolence]

HMMMmmnn...

 

I'm talking about when our understanding is such that we have "Gene Spinners"—Devices where you enter your desired Characteristics and the Machine Picks the Proper sequence of Genes to give you a Biological Artifact with the Properties that you requested...

 

As long as it was biologically possible...

 

Like Assembly Languages translate Programming Languages into Binary...

 

So what I'm asking—Is it Biologically Possible for a Temperate Annual Shrub—something roughly the size of a Tomato Plant, to produce Fruits enough like oranges—in terms of taste, color, consistency, nutrients to fool any human taste test or product comparison...

 

And to bear sufficient product to be worth bothering with...

 

Or is there some subtle factor that would rule it out in Principle?

 

Also, could Annuals be created to produce true nuts like Pecan and Walnut?

 

 

I remember "Topato" trees being sold through mail order a couple decades ago.

 

Apparently it was a Tree that had Tomatoes up top and grew Potatoes at its roots...

 

But that could very well have been a big Windy—Like those Damned "Sea-Monkey Shrimp" that they used to pedal—or X-Ray Glasses...

 

 

Saxon Violence

Edited October 24, 2013 by SaxonViolence

[Rade]

I'm not sure I understand why you concentrate on having tomato plants produce oranges ? In theory, any gene from any species can be introduced into another species, see here for a review of the topic: http://cls.casa.colostate.edu/transgeniccrops/faqpopup.html. As discussed, a major problem is that we do not know how to activate most inserted genes, nor do we know how that insertion effects protein synthesis for unrelated tissues. There also are major questions of ethics.

 

We need to think more globally than tomato plants producing oranges. Why not genetically create 'robot stem plants' that could breed quickly in any type of soil and produce whatever type of fruit, nut, vegetable you like ? Perhaps a way to eliminate hunger and poor nutrition worldwide ?

Edited October 25, 2013 by Rade

[SaxonViolence]

 

We need to think more globally than tomato plants producing oranges. Why not genetically create 'robot stem plants' that could breed quickly in any type of soil and produce whatever type of fruit, nut, vegetable you like ? Perhaps a way to eliminate hunger and poor nutrition worldwide ?

 

Interesting.

 

Every once and awhile you hear someone tall about "Biological Machines"—which living organisms are—but the emphasis is on a man-made and designed mechanism designed for a specific purpose—but using Wet Proteins and other organic molecules as it's operating components.

 

Such a gadget might utilize Chromosomes, Genes, Mitochondria, Cell Walls, etc.

 

But then again, it would not be a necessary condition.

 

But your "Robot Stem Plants" might be an excellent example of the breed.

 

 

Saxon Violence

[ErlyRisa]

GEnetic engineering for dumbies:

 

NOTE:

 

Just b/c you change the code in the environment, doesn't mean that code is fruitful.

 

ie, you can't just go about trying todo "weirdo" things, and expect it to work (Tomatoes growing in the ground)

 

...Tomatoes/Potatoe

 

,yeah, but no!

 

As a tomatoe your requirement is for it to be a soft sweet fruit

the ground is not sweet but savoury....

 

you have already discounted your effort, by trying to accomplish "a huge environmental shift", with a "Huge requirement gain"

 

...ie, it's not just the CODE, it's also the setting.... a big mistake novices make with "geneics"