Edible cottonseeds

[creidieki]

Science makes me happy. Scientists at Texas A&M have apparently found a genetic way of making cottonseeds nonpoisonous, without removing the rest of the plant's protection from insects. Humanity already uses a ton of cotton, so a bunch of seeds are getting grow anyway. Twenty years from now, we may be getting a bunch of free new food

Comments

[_wirehead_]

wow, cool. now do you suppose it'll actually happen, or will people be up in arms about "genetic modification"?

[creidieki]

One of the articles I read mentioned that since they're only disabling an existing gene pathway (the poison-creating gene), they're hoping to be able to market it a lot more efficiently than plants where we actually create something new.

[roseandsigil]

I strongly suspect that argument is specious (I'm sure you can disable some gene or other to make some common food HORRIBLY POISONOUS). I also strongly suspect most people won't realize that.

[creidieki]

It seems to me that, at least in a probabilistic sense, it makes it a lot clearer that we actually know what's happening. It's not that you can't make something dangerous, but that you'd be less likely to make it dangerous *accidentally*.

[redglasses]

We already eat cotton. Cottonseed oil is processed to remove the toxin and used to fry chips and make Crisco, while dte meal can be safely fed to adult ruminants. A bigger problem is that it's too high in omega-6 acids compared to omega-3, which is unhealthy.