Re: [CH] Cloning Capsiacin
Dave Anderson (Chilehead@tough-love.com)
Sun, 20 Feb 2000 18:34:05 -0800
Some good questions. This gets kicked around about once a year,
but lets get a couple of terms straight first. Capsicum is the plant
which gives us peppers, chiles, chillies, ajis, or whatever people
call them in various parts of the world. Capsiacin is the colorless
odorless crystaline compound which along with four derivitives
gives Capsicums their distinctive heat. Capsiacin was first
synthesized from non-natural ingredients in 1930 and the chemistry
has been understood for longer than that.
Therefore, if you just want heat, pure capsiacin is already available.
When we start talking about genetic engineering of Capsicum, the
reasons would have to make the most economic sense. Since heat
can be reproduced, the major economic reasons to produce an
engineered pepper would probably be higher yields per acre, cold
tolerence, or disease resistance.
The only member of the nightshade family that I'm aware of that
has been genotyped is the tomato. This was done in 1993 by
Calgene Corp. of Davis CA. and led to their notorious and
economically disastrous Flavr-Saver Tomato which was abandoned
in 1997. Calgene is now owned by Monsanto and appears to be
working on genetically modified Canola.
Stories abound about another genetically engineered tomato which
supposedly has flounder genes to make to make it more frost or
freeze tolerant, but I've never seen any information to substantiate
them.
The Red Savina Habanero is a mutant or "sport" which was
discovered by Frank Garcia of GNS Spices, Inc. in his habanero
fields. It is an open pollinated variety which usually, but not always
reproduces itself. Like any other Capsicum, heat level can vary
dramatically depending on growing conditions.
I doubt that genetic engineering will come to peppers for a long
time simply because it's too expensive and the money will continue
to flow towards high dollar volume crops like corn, wheat,
soybeans, cotton, etc.
I haven't taken a stance on whether genetically engineered
peppers, or any other plant varieties are good or bad science, but I
certainly believe that people have a right to know what they're
consuming.
The information regarding Capsiacin and Capsicum came from
Jean Andrews book, "Peppers, the Domesticated Capsicums"
which should be in every Chile-head's library.
Dave Anderson
Tough Love Chile Co.
http://www.tough-love.com
> I am not talking about putting a cows gene into a hab, just boosting
> something the hab is already producing on its own. As I understand it the
> Red Savina is a "mutant" of some orange habs. Somebody noticed it, picked
> it, planted its seeds and patented it to make money. Did they do any
> testing to see if the mutated Red Savinas were harmful to the
> environment? Could the genes that mutated eventually lead to problems with
> other closely related plants? If by changing the expression of just one
> gene in a hab, without adding foreign DNA, you could make it produce 10
> times the heat what would be the harm. If you found the same mutation in
> your garden you would be happy and rich, but if a person does it in a lab
> all of a sudden the Earth is threatened?
>
> Does anyone know if the Capsiacin gene has been sequenced yet??
>
> Jack, a WV Mountaineer Red Neck
>
>
> Dave,
> a couple of comments ...
> pro-GM propagandists love to package the term "breeding for type" with
> "genetic modification". fact is, they ain't the same thing.
> selective breeding for a specific trait in a plant or animal, within
> that creature's own gene pool is one thing. Inserting the genetic material
> of one organism into another, (
> genetically dissimilar creature ) is what happens with GM.
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> Join the Carp Anglers Group at:
> http://www.carpanglersgroup.org
>
> Go Fishing with Jack on the Potomac River, MD, USA at:
> http://www.geocities.com/yosemite/rapids/8155
>