Some days
ago (January 8, 2014) the anti-GMO activist Barbara H. Peterson published in
Farm Wars a post suggesting that the recent paper from Stergachis and
colleagues pointed to evidences that “DNA manipulation can create mutations due
to ignorance of gene control mechanism”. She went further on, writing a virulent,
non-science based libel against biotechnology.
I strongly
suggest the download and reading of the paper from Stergachis and his
colleagues (https://www.sciencemag.org/content/342/6164/1367.full.pdf).
The
original paper has no suggestions that "DNA manipulation can create
mutations due to ignorance of gene control mechanism". The paper was
dedicated to analyze promoters in natural genes, it does not speculate about
mutations, but just on codon usage, and at the end of its discussion, it
emphasizes the difficulty in broadening its conclusions to evolution. It has
absolutely no mention about transgenesis. Moreover, promoters used in
transgenesis have no similarity to those studied by the authors. Barbara Peters
created the Armaggedon scenario by gluing different information and some
rubbish, but has absolutely no scientific basis.
Barbara H.
Peterson is retired from the California Department of Corrections, where she
worked as a Correctional Officer at Folsom Prison. She has no training or
expertise in molecular biology and I truly imagine how she would be able to
read and understand the very dense paper from Stergachis and his colleagues.
For a brief CV of Barbara, check http://www.opednews.com/author/author7335.html.
The fact
is: there is a whole set of parrots, lacking even un ounce of criticism, that
are just spreading the news, disgracing Stergachis and his team and falsely
using Science authoritative papers to fuel a useless discussion. You may find
the story copied and glued on dozens of sites in just a few days. Bad for the
reader...
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