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Looking at the Ag Research down on Gill Tract
This, so far, is a research blog. It appears that genetic engineering has been going on within proximity of the Gill Tract Community Garden for many years. While Biological control of pest research came out of this farm land years ago, the current "plot", before student activities claimed a portion of the land, was solely toward gene research, as well as seeing privatizing the land as a source for needed income for the University. It would be interesting to use strictly organic and non gmo heirloom seeds (and non GMO corn seeds) at the Gill Tract community farm and then see if these plants show signs of transgenic contamination. This would not be too difficult to test and might provide more confirmation--as suggested by Berkeley professor Ignacio Chapela that transgenes will contaminate organic corn. The Chapela research said that trangenic corn would contaminate non-GMO corn. At this point in my research, I am not sure if epigenetic corn research is also capable of contaminating non GMO plants.
Date: 11/15/2014 9:39:59 PM ( 10 y ) ... viewed 1637 times
Looking at the Ag Research down on Gill Tract
[Follow Up to Complete...
Photo of Leslie and Ignasio Chapela goes here!
I will find the photo later and put it here.
I am going to contact Ignasio and have him weigh in
on the potential contamination of epigenetic genes on
nearby non gmo crops at the Gill Tract Community Farm.
I want the research of Ignasio Chapela, University of Cal Berkeley
to be told and the story of what he ran into with industry.
I want to look deeply into the issues raised by the film,
the concept of commons vs. privatization.
I will also contact another UCB Professor
professor Miguel Altieri, another professor with a long history
to this land. He also did research here and is featured
in the film.]
I began this Plant Your Dream Blog curious about the kind of Ag Research being done on Gill Tract near the Gill Track Community Farm. It appears Damon Lisch, who now has moved on to another university, and is featured in the film, was doing Epigenetic Research. The idea and concept is new to me. Further research appears to indicate that Ag Research on the Gill Tract has been GMO related research.
It would be interesting to continue research here. One project might be to plant only GMO Free Heirloom Seeds and Ancient grains, including non gmo corn at the 1.3 acre Gill Tract Community Farm and see if the corn and other crops grown show any indication of GE (GMO) contamination.
My interest in the Occupy the Farm Film led me to begin to explore the meaning of Epigenetic research on this Plant Your Dream Blog. I discovered so far that Damon Lisch, a researcher with the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology in the College of Natural Resources, was granted $1.3 million out of $3.4 million to conduct research on epigenetics using corn.
One of my interests has been exploring GE (GMO) contamination of non GMO corn. As a visionary more than a scientist, I am curious to know if epigenics can contaminate non GMO corn. This might be an interesting study that could potentially be conducted at the Gill Track Community farm where apparently both non gmo and organic plants have been planted on the 1.3 acres now the community farm, as well as ongoing Genetic engineering research and research into epigenics on the same parcel at the Gill Tract. Just thinking out loud…as my Tribes people go on a hunt for contested votes in #yeson92 and @orrighttoknow
MY PLANT YOUR DREAM BLOG ON THIS SUBJECT
http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=2219490
FOR THE BACKGROUND ON THE IGNACIO CHAPELA RESEARCH AND AN INFORMATIVE HISTORY OF HOW UC BERKELEY WAS A BIRTHPLACE FOR GENETIC ENGINEERED BIOTECHNOLOGY, SEE THIS ARTICLE BY CLAIRE HOPE CUMMINS
Ignasio Chapela, UC Professor was one of the first to identify transgenic contamination of indigenous corn. This is discussed in this article.
A few gems for this article:
Trespass: Genetic Engineering as the Final Conquest
Trespass
"I have the feeling that science has transgressed a barrier that should have remained inviolate."
-Dr. Erwin Chargaff, biochemist and the father of molecular biology
Hidden inside Hilgard Hall, one of the oldest buildings on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley, is a photograph that no one is supposed to see. It's a picture of a crippled and contorted corncob that was not created by nature, or even by agriculture, but by genetic engineering.q The cob is kept in a plastic bin called "the monster box," a collection of biological curiosities put together by someone who works in a secure biotechnology research facility.
http://www.worldwatch.org/node/568
NOTE IGNASIO CHAPELA SPOKE AT THE RALLY NOVEMBER 14, IN FRONT OF CALIFORNIA HALL
WHEN: 12:30 – Rally with speakers Prof. Miguel Altieri, Ignacio Chapela and Eric Holt-Giménez of Food First
http://sealstudents.wordpress.com/2014/11/13/press-release-uc-berkeley-students-meet-with-chancellor-dirks-to-halt-development-of-gill-tract/
NON GMO FOOD GROW HERE
The Gill Tract “is some of the best soil in the East Bay,” said Occupy the Farm spokesperson Lesley Haddock, a Cal student. “If it was used for food production, it could serve people all over the East Bay, people who don’t have access to clean, non-GMO food.” A Gill Tract farm could also boost local food production by allowing people to research effective practices and train urban gardeners. That would help reduce climate change by cutting down on the shipping of food over long distances.
http://www.takebackthetract.com
HERE IS ONE ARTICLE THAT CAME MY WAY
Gill Tract researcher receives National Science Foundation grant
BY SOPHIE MATTSON | STAFFLAST UPDATED AUGUST 12, 2012
Damon Lisch, a researcher with the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology in the College of Natural Resources, was granted $1.3 million out of $3.4 million to conduct research on epigenetics using corn.
The project, which is being conducted by Lisch and three other researchers — one at the University of Minnesota, one at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn., and another at the University of Texas, Austin — is being funded by the National Science Foundation.
According to campus professor Miguel Altieri, who conducts research on the Gill Tract and supported the Occupy the Farm protest, the results of the research conducted by Lisch directly affects the production of genetically modified organisms, known as GMOs, by large food production businesses.
“A survey of biotechnology patents that cites the research of Lisch and of his colleagues shows that some of their research has, in fact, resulted in the production of GMO technologies,” Altieri said in an email. “While Lisch might not be conducting GMO trials at the Gill Tract directly for Big Agribusiness, some of his findings are of key importance to researchers who are developing transgenic crops for their corporate employers.”
Lisch responded to Altieri’s claims by stating that his research is important regardless of how it can be used.
“Professor Altieri is certainly entitled to his opinion, and it is true that our research, like all basic research, can be applied to a variety of applications, including those that he disapproves of,” Lisch said. “That being said, knowledge is probably preferable to ignorance.”
http://www.dailycal.org/2012/08/12/gill-tract-researcher-receives-national-science-foundation-grant/
WHAT IS EPIGENETIC THERAPY?
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/epigenetic-therapy.html
ARCHIVE FROM 2004
BERKELEY / Cal in a battle over a tract / Chunk of land represents UC's original agricultural mission, and much of its legacy, but planners say land is too badly needed
Charles Burress, Chronicle Staff Writer Published 4:00 am, Saturday, April 10, 2004
Sharing the Gill Tract with Aliteri's cabbages has been genetically engineered corn. One corn researcher, Adjunct Professor Sarah Hake, who directs plant gene research at the U.S. Department of Agriculture research station next to the Gill Tract, said she would be "seriously affected," adding, "It has been fantastic to walk to the field a few times a day, and also it has been great for students who don't have cars."
http://www.sfgate.com/education/article/BERKELEY-Cal-in-a-battle-over-a-tract-Chunk-2796316.php
THIS IS A WELL WRITTEN ARTICLE THAT SHARES NUMBERS OF THE PRO AND ANTI LABELING ARGUMENTS
It was published during the Prop 37 period.
One interesting quote from Sarah Hake, a plant geneticist who was featured in the film Occupy The Farm
The case for useful technologies
“It frustrates scientists in the field of biology that genetic engineering has become synonymous with conventional agrichemical and agribusiness,” laments Sarah Hake, a plant geneticist, adjunct UC Berkeley professor, member of the National Academy of Sciences, and Center Director at the USDA Plant Gene Expression Center in Albany. “Genetic engineering is just a technique. Like welding. There are some very benign, and potentially very good uses of biotechnology. Some important academic research is being stymied by anti-GMO efforts. We may be barricading useful technologies from getting into the hands of third-world farmers who need them most, and that’s a shame.”
Hake is in agreement with Dig Deep Farms’ Hank Herrera that much of the GMO debate turns on the issue of herbicides and pesticides. “Either a farmer is willing to deal with weeds or they’re not,” says Herrera. “Monsanto-produced Roundup Ready corn requires less weed management. Without GMOs, would you have higher labor costs? Sure. But maybe instead your family and neighbors would pitch in to work and you’d contribute to restoring the local economy. The so-called efficiency of the modern farming system has turned everything on its head. We’ve lost some of the benefits of highly efficient small farming methods.”
http://edibleeastbay.com/online-magazine/summer-2012/gmo-labeling/
CONTINUING TO FIND THINGS…TO BE EXPLORED
http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.0040005
7:38 pm
November 15, 2014
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