|SEND TO PRINTER| Point of View : Oct 1, 2012 ( ) Technophobia =
Poisoned Fruit Fear-Mongering About Recombinant DNA-Modified
Crops Hurts Farmers and Consumers Most people are familiar with
the unappetizing browning of apples shortly after they’re cut or
bitten into. The good news is that molecular biologists have
devised a clever way to prevent it. The bad news is that
organizations that represent apple growers are implacably
opposed to the improved fruit. And therein lies a cautionary
tale. The biology of apples is complicated but fascinating.
Almost all commercial apple varieties are grafted onto hardy
root stocks that have dwarfing genes to keep the trees on apple
plantations short and easier to harvest. Therefore, the DNA of
the roots is different from the DNA of the fruit tree. Apples’
blossoms are self-incompatible with respect to fertilization so
they must be cross-pollinated by insects (primarily bees) in
order to develop fruit. Special pollinating trees are found in
most orchards as a source of poll