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Philip Morris Cleans Up Its Act—By Genetically Modifying Tobacco
From the cigarette company that wants you to stop smoking comes a new frontier in tobacco consumption: the health-friendly (kind of), genetically modified chew. Researchers at North Carolina State University, funded by tobacco giant Philip Morris, are trying to take the cancer out of cancer sticks by removing the gene that turns the plant toxic when cured. As tobacco plants age, the nicotine in the leaves changes into the compound nornicotine, which in turn becomes a carcinogen when the plant is cured. Knocking out the gene that causes this change, the researchers report, leads to a 50% decrease in tobacco's most harmful toxins. No word on whether the alterations make nicotine any less addictive, but you have to give them credit for trying. h/t Wired
—Casey Miner
Photo used under a Creative Commons license from Flickr user zombophoto.
Comments
I wonder if the changes would do anything to prevent the heart disease, emphysema and other diseases caused by smoking. After all cancer is only half the problem. There are about 400 different chemicals in tobacco smoke, and dozens of them are known to be toxic.
could there be wider implications from this?
Posted by: art on 03/21/08 at 5:05 PM Respond
This is a ploy by the tobacco cartel to keep folks using tobacco generally--make it seem that taking one of the harmful 4000 chemicals out really makes a difference!!
"Use spit tobacco when you can't smoke" is the subliminal message,but don't quit!
Posted by: hansens2 on 03/21/08 at 6:17 PM Respond
Oh boy! Genetics engineering is great! So you won't get cancer... but 50 years from now we'll figure out that smoking modified smokes is what's causing those extra appendages that are so fashionable in 2060.
When will people learn that you can't mess with mother nature?! She's one serious mofo. Did we learn nothing from the "healthier" hydrogenated fat fad? Oop!!! Turns out that s*it is like poison to your heart. Sorry 'bout that.
The scary thing is... it's one thing to process raw materials... like turning oats into Cocoa Puffs... but now that we're modifying the actually raw material itself, in the future (or even now) it will be hard to even get REAL food, plants, fruits, etc. We humans have been consuming real plants for 30 million years. Now we consume Cocoa Puffs and Cheese Whiz and people wonder why we all end up with cancer.
Posted by: Guy Incognito on 03/22/08 at 5:25 AM Respond
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Posted by: Phil on 03/20/08 at 8:49 PM Respond