

Atomic Gardens: Breeding Plants with Gamma Radiation - thret
http://pruned.blogspot.com/2011/04/atomic-gardens.html

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gdubs
As far as I understood, blasting seeds with radiation is still a common
practice. [1]

One of the reasons the debate over genetically engineered (GE) crops seems so
silly -- we've been using such a haphazard approach to genetic mutation for so
long, with somewhat unpredictable success that GE looks like a much saner and
targeted process.

1:[http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutation_breeding](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutation_breeding)

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andreasvc
While I agree that the fear for genetic modification is often unfounded, I
don't think it's silly to apply more scrutiny to specific and specialized
modifications such as with GM than with general, haphazard approaches such as
used before. It is a case of "be careful what you wish for"; things have
unintended consequences and they might be greater in the case of making a
targeted modification without considering its context.

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schoen
When I was in elementary school, I got my teacher to write away for some
tomato seeds that had been in space on the LDEF. And we got them!

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Duration_Exposure_Facilit...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Duration_Exposure_Facility)

They sent some of them to schools to let kids try planting tomato seeds that
had been in space alongside ones that had stayed on Earth, to see if we
noticed any differences (or any lack of viability of the space-exposed seeds).
Both of them grew well for me. My mom wouldn't let me eat the tomatoes from
the ones that went to space, though.

By the time of the LDEF experiment the message seemed to be, not that the
radiation would likely improve the plants, but that it was useful to know
whether it would damage them appreciably. It's interesting to contrast that
with a time when it was common to think it would likely produce useful
mutations.

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mbleigh
IIRC, Bruce Banner's seminal research in the field showed a strong correlation
between gamma radiation and things becoming larger, stronger, and greener.

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mml
Yes, I recall those great hulking green things. Too bad they were ultimately
smashed, leaving the author to sulk down a lonely road, alone.

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beloch
This article should probably also mention John Laughnan's development of Sweet
Corn, which has virtually swept all other varieties out of North American
markets.

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ChuckMcM
And of course they made their way into plays
([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Effect_of_Gamma_Rays_on_Man...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Effect_of_Gamma_Rays_on_Man-
in-the-Moon_Marigolds)).

