Re: Seed Corn

Posted by paul on January 22, 2007 at 18:57:09 from (66.44.132.154):

In Reply to: Seed Corn posted by Dale B on January 22, 2007 at 16:21:19:

Hybreds are crossed plants (pollen & silk, very natural process but human beings go around detasseling the corn to make it a very pure process) that produce very high yielding corn. This corn will not carry though the exact same traits tho, it will be all mixed up breeding, and the corn, while natural & normal, will give very unpredicatable & low yielding corn.

Apple trees are kinda the same way, you can't grow an apple tree from the apple seed that will be _anything_ like it's parent.

That is hybred corn.

Some of it is bred to yield real high, some is bred to produce more starch (for ethanol) or more oil (for other uses), and so on. The plant beeding is all natural, but it is very carfully controled so only the right pollen gets on the right silk.

GMO corn (Genetically Modified Corn) has had some scientists insert a few special genes to add some trait that isn't naturally there - like resistance to Roundup, or BT insecticide. This is the stuff some folks really welcome because it makes raising crops cheaper & more stable & less poisonous chemicals used; others are aghast at meddling with genes & want nothing to do with it. The companies selling this type of seed only rent it to you, they don't sell it (just like the agreement you made with Microsoft for Windows XP....) and they will sue you if you try to get away with planting the seeds you harvest. (It wouldn't work with corn anyhow because it's a hybred, but other crops it is a factor).

Then there is the Terminator Gene, which one company worked with for a while. It has the affect your friend is talking about, it is a GMO thing & it only allows the seed you buy to reproduce - seeds grown from that seed will not grow.

It proved to not work very well, was terribly expensive to get to work even poorly, and a lot of govt & people were against the whole idea. Mostly because it just does not work very well, the whole idea was dropped, & it never, ever was placed in any marketed seed. It was only a lab experiment.

So, once the terminology gets figured out, you are right.

Your friend is wrong.

--->Paul

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