All in the Family, but Modified

This is a horse

and this is a donkey

Both are of the same genetic family but of a DIFFERENT SPECIES. 

(I shall not get into the chimp-human family debate but here it suggests that genetically humans and chimps share 99.4 percent identity)

 Anyway, when a male donkey is cross-bred with a female horse, the product is:

a MULE

What's interesting is that mules are sterile. They CANNOT produce any off-spring.

And apparently, this is most often (but not always) the case for creatures that are produced from cross-breeding between species.

Though geneticists go cross-eyed  arguing as to the actual scientific reason,   a layman like me naturally concludes that it's what we get when we tamper with nature, when humans merrily experiment with genes and modify them for whatsoever reason.

I mean, would a female horse NATURALLY WANT to mate with a donkey? She could easily out-run him anytime and anywhere, that's one thing. And stallions look a thousand times better, too.

And how about plants?

 This is a guava, with seeds

and these are SEEDLESS guavas

A normal guava looks nice and symmetrical but the seedless variety are grossly gnarled and misshapened, their segments unevenly sized.

The seedless one is what I had the pleasure of partaking recently though, and painfully paid the price early the next morning.

Fruits are designed to contain seeds for the purpose of propogating their species.

When a fruit has no seeds, it is barren, infertile - like the mule.

And I naturally suspect the human hand being the cause - by genetically modifying the original seeded one.

They say the Thais have got it down pat, producing seedless varieties of durians, the guava above, rambutans etc. through genetical modifications (GM) ie through either inserting or deleting genes.

What I can decipher from Wiki are that there are a number of ways to do this.

You can artificially transfer genes between organisms that can be conventionally bred, I'm assuming within the same species. 

Or you can insert genes from a different species by attaching them to a transporter virus. They say using a very fine syringe or  a gene gun (nice) may also work in transferring DNA material. 

And they are also talking about transferring genes between plants and animals! 

However GM foods are not without controversies. 

"Supporters point to wonderful possibilities of nutrient-packed food and solving world hunger, while critics fear unknown effects on human health. But whatever one’s opinion the matter, one thing is clear: some genetically modified fruits and vegetables are awfully intriguing!"

Here's one example:

A Lemato

"Okay, so a lemon and a tomato aren’t the most natural of pairs, but that didn’t stop Israeli researchers from bringing us the Lemato! Unlike other genetically altered fruits and veggies (which were created primarily for health reasons), it appears that the lemato was solely an experiment to determine if it was possible to make tomatos give off the scent of lemons". 

Follow this link for  7 Intriguing Genetically Modified Fruits & Veggies"

OK, on the one hand they are saying the GM fruits are created "for health reasons" but on the other they fear "unknown effects on human health"!

But I know what effect the seedless guava had on me. My wonderful tummy rejected it, even though the humble guava does have many naturopathic benefits.

Taken unedited from http://www.chocolateisnowgoodforyou.com/

"Though guava is cheaper, it contains lot of nutrients as well as good medicinal value.  Guava is the best remedy for constipation problems. Seedless guava has the ability to strengthen heart muscles. If you get hiccup troubles frequently, eat guava which will stop hiccup immediately. Guava has a copious amount of vitamin C and little amount of vitamin A, B. One ounce of guava consists of fat-1gm, protein-1gm, calcium-3mg, carbohydrate-4.1gm and iron-0.3gm. Young guava fruit quits dysentery. To reduce tooth pain, chew guava leaves well and do mouthwash. Consuming tender leaves in empty stomach will increase the hunger and strengthen the intestine. Don’t remove the skin of guava because skinless guava may cause indigestion problems."



What? DO NOT REMOVE THE SKIN OF GUAVA because skinless guava may cause INDIGESTION PROBLEMS?

That was exactly what I did! I removed the skin!

So it wasn't because of it being GENETICALLY-MODIFIED after all.

Or it might still be, who knows...



 Still, it will be a long while before I try Seedless Guavas  again.