Transgenic Qing Hao

June 26, 2009

This abstract (public access on Medline) discusses transgenic Qing Hao,

transfected with DNA from Madagascar periwinkle using a microbal vector to

invade the cell and ferry in the foreign DNA. The research is conducted by th

Centre for Transgenic Plant Development in India. China is also researching

transgenic Artemisia. Notice the economic rationale. The trend is to develop

plants (and animals) to be used as cheap drug factories.

If real Qing hao becomes contaminated with GM Qing hao DNA through cross

pollination (plants are grown in fields, not laboratories) it leaves the public

domain. The plants will belong to whomever or whatever corporation or

governmental entity holds the patent. We will not be able to identify the

difference just by looking at the plant.

Contamination is irreversible; it confers heritable traits.

- Gena

1: Planta Med. 2009 Jun 23. [Epub ahead of print]

Related Articles, Links

Overexpression of the HMG-CoA Reductase Gene Leads to Enhanced Artemisinin

Biosynthesis in Transgenic Artemisia annua Plants.

Aquil S, Husaini AM, Abdin MZ, Rather GM.

Centre for Transgenic Plant Development, Department of Biotechnology, Jamia

Hamdard, New Delhi, India.

An effective and affordable treatment against malaria is still a challenge for

medicine. Most contemporary drugs either are too expensive to produce or are not

effective against resistant strains of the malaria parasite PLASMODIUM

FALCIPARUM. The plant ARTEMISIA ANNUA L. is the source of artemisinin, an

effective drug against malaria for which no resistant strains of the bacterium

have been reported. However, the artemisinin content of A. ANNUA is very low,

which makes its production expensive. Here we report the use of transgenic

technology to increase the artemisinin content of A. ANNUA. We report the

production of transgenic plants of A. ANNUA into which we transferred

3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl CoA reductase ( HMGR) gene from CATHARANTHUS ROSEUS

(L.) G. Don using AGROBACTERIUM-mediated gene transfer technology. Transgene

integration and copy number were assessed by PCR and Southern hybridization,

which confirmed the stable integration of multiple

copies of the transgene in 7 different transgenic lines of A. ANNUA. The leaf

tissue of three of the A. ANNUA transgenic lines possessed significantly higher

HMGR activity compared with wild-type controls, and this activity was associated

exclusively with microsomal membranes. The artemisinin content of the shoots of

one of the transgenic lines depicted an increase of 22.5 % artemisinin content

compared with wild-type control A. ANNUA plants.

PMID: 19551613 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

June 27, 2009

Gena,

Thanks for the links and the abstract on qinghao...keep this line of

information coming, please.

I would like to offer another suggestion. As a concerned and educated

person, like everyone else on this list, I am a little put off by the

alarmist tone in your posts. I am not suggesting that there is no cause for

alarm, clearly there is, but if other members feel the same as I do, and I

am relatively sure that they do (at least many of them) that tone puts them

off and makes it less likely that they will give your posts credence, or

even read them.

Thanks for keeping this alive.

Doug, is this true that the person Gena mentioned is on this list? How is

that? Isn't this list for practitioners? Perhaps the list should be

closed/private. I do not like the thought that my comments are floating out

there in cyber-world without me knowing about it, worst being used for

anything that may injure Chinese herbal medicine or in this case perhaps a

lot worse!

Thomas

Beijing, China

Author of " Western Herbs According to Traditional : A

Practitioners Guide "

Check out my blog: sourcepointherbs.blogspot.com

June 27, 2009

hhhmmmm.... well, yes I did let the editor from Inpharm magazine. I am going to

delete certain posts of Gena's as I find nothing to support her claims that

Inpharm has any other motive than solicit articles about chinese herbs for a

special edition of their magazine centering. There is nothing to suggest that

they are any other than an independent organization of Young Pharmacists in

India. I apologize to Inpharm if anything else was suggested on CHA.

I am going to take Inpharm off the CHA list. They indeed aren't practitioners

but I found them to be an interesting group who were asking for input from our

community. You may check out there webpage in India at

http://www.inpharm.org.in if you are interested in either contributing or

reading about them.

In any case it has been interesting...

I believe that the problem of plant genetics are potentially horrendous and

extremely dangerous. However I don't believe we can tie every pharmacologist nor

organization to this threat any more than we can tie every herbalists to poison

herbs.

Doug

June 28, 2009

I hope that there will be no future exceptions to the membership policy.

- Bill

, " "

wrote:

>

> hhhmmmm.... well, yes I did let the editor from Inpharm magazine. I am going

to delete certain posts of Gena's as I find nothing to support her claims that

Inpharm has any other motive than solicit articles about chinese herbs for a

special edition of their magazine centering. There is nothing to suggest that

they are any other than an independent organization of Young Pharmacists in

India. I apologize to Inpharm if anything else was suggested on CHA.

>

> I am going to take Inpharm off the CHA list. They indeed aren't practitioners

but I found them to be an interesting group who were asking for input from our

community. You may check out there webpage in India at

http://www.inpharm.org.in if you are interested in either contributing or

reading about them.

>

> In any case it has been interesting...

>

> I believe that the problem of plant genetics are potentially horrendous and

extremely dangerous. However I don't believe we can tie every pharmacologist nor

organization to this threat any more than we can tie every herbalists to poison

herbs.

>

> Doug

>

June 29, 2009

Bill and all CHA,

I have changed my mind and will not restrict Inpharm editor from CHA after

reviewing the original " charter " of CHA on the home page.

" This group is restricted to healthcare professionals practicing Chinese Herbal

Medicine, students enrolled in formal programs of training in Chinese Herbal

Medicine, and postgraduates from related disciplines such as pharmacology,

medical education, and sinology. "

Again, for the record, Inpharm has only asked for papers on Chinese herbs. There

is no evidence that they are " farming " us for information, even if anything of

interest to them would be found on CHA. There is no evidence that they are

" front group " for bio tech or bio engineering companies.

They are indeed an organization of " young pharmacists " in India. India and

perhaps Bangalore in particular is a very progressive area politically. I can't

say that this is the case with this organization or not.

I would propose that the best thing that can happen is that one of us (or as a

group?) project submit a paper to their publication about any of our concerns

about using Chinese herbs in " pharmacology " or as a molecular agents. This I

think would really have a better outcome and delivered, I believe, to a

receptive audience. The extent to which this is tied to the larger issues of

biotech is up for grabs.

Doug

, " bill_schoenbart " <plantmed2

wrote:

>

> I hope that there will be no future exceptions to the membership policy.

>

> - Bill

>

> , " " <taiqi@>

wrote:

> >

> > hhhmmmm.... well, yes I did let the editor from Inpharm magazine. I am going

to delete certain posts of Gena's as I find nothing to support her claims that

Inpharm has any other motive than solicit articles about chinese herbs for a

special edition of their magazine centering. There is nothing to suggest that

they are any other than an independent organization of Young Pharmacists in

India. I apologize to Inpharm if anything else was suggested on CHA.

> >

> > I am going to take Inpharm off the CHA list. They indeed aren't

practitioners but I found them to be an interesting group who were asking for

input from our community. You may check out there webpage in India at

http://www.inpharm.org.in if you are interested in either contributing or

reading about them.

> >

> > In any case it has been interesting...

> >

> > I believe that the problem of plant genetics are potentially horrendous and

extremely dangerous. However I don't believe we can tie every pharmacologist nor

organization to this threat any more than we can tie every herbalists to poison

herbs.

> >

> > Doug

> >

>

June 29, 2009

, wrote:

>

> This abstract (public access on Medline) discusses transgenic Qing Hao,

transfected with DNA from Madagascar periwinkle using a microbal vector to

invade the cell and ferry in the foreign DNA. The research is conducted by th

Centre for Transgenic Plant Development in India. China is also researching

transgenic Artemisia. Notice the economic rationale. The trend is to develop

plants (and animals) to be used as cheap drug factories.

This is a complex issue. I think all would agree that it would be an ecological

tragedy if genetically modified herbs escaped into native habitats and

contaminated the genetic purity of the original plant sources. However, I think

that fundamentalist opposition should be tempered with a practical look at the

risks and benefits. I am generally wary of the introduction of genetically

modified products, but in the case of qing hao the issue is quite complex.

For sure, protecting native habitats through establishing reserves would be

essential. A focused political and financial effort to protect wild habitats,

either by the non-GM groups or the pharmaceutical companies themselves, would be

extremely important. But I don't think that it can be categorically said that

well-controlled crops of genetically modified artemisinin-rich qing hao would be

a bad thing for the world.

Malaria remains one of the greatest killers in the world today. It is one of

the most prevalent and ancient scourges of humanity, and it causes more

suffering than nearly any other contagious disease. Artemisinin is the only

known agent that has no known drug resistance, but adequate artemisinin content

only occurs in qing hao when it is grown in a very precise environment.

During a recent trip to the manufacturer of Blue Poppy's formulas, I noticed

that the same factory also produces pure artemisinin, which they extract from

qing hao that they grow locally with GAP (Good Agricultural Practices). The

herbal experts on staff, as well as other researches that I have spoken to,

mention that a specific elevation and environment is required to grow qing hao

with a significant artemisinin content. Thus, they only grow it in one

authentic, specific region. The same plant cannot be grown in other areas (like

Africa) to yield an effective amount of artemisinin.

The variability of artemisinin content makes the pure drug more suitable than

the raw herb for precisely measured treatment (traditionally, the juice

extracted from the raw herb was used for malaria, which also limits its

applicability). In Africa, hundreds of thousands of people contract malaria,

but the range for artemisinin-rich qing hao in China is small. The earth cannot

sustain an adequate supply for the global demand in this one traditional area.

It would be better to grow artemisinin-rich qing hao in Africa under strict

controls. Even if it would take strict regulation and GMO crops, growing qing

hao in Africa would save millions of lives and vast native Chinese herbal

habitats.

Finally, despite Gena's emphatic opinion that using plants as chemical factories

for drugs is a universally bad thing, I have to say that I wonder if growing a

field of plants damages the earth more than a purely synthetic route of

synthesis.

I would hate to see genetically modified organisms escape into the wild habitat,

and I would never want to see genetically modified sources of the herbs that we

use in TCM. I'd generally put my foot down against GM products in most

applications, but I think something like qing hao needs to be thought about with

an open mind. We are talking about millions of lives, a unique situation with a

plant and its chemistry, and a relatively easily controlled ecological

situation. Medicine is about helping people, and extreme views damage our

ability to reach people.

Eric

July 2, 2009

Eric,

>This is a complex issue. I think all would agree that it would be an

ecological tragedy if genetically modified >herbs escaped into native

habitats and contaminated the genetic purity of the original plant sources.

However, I >think that fundamentalist opposition should be tempered with a

practical look at the risks and benefits.I am >generally wary of the

introduction of genetically modified products, but in the case of qing hao

the issue is >quite complex.

While I generally agree with your comments I think that the complexity of

this issue is actually deeper than what you expressed in your post. First, I

don't think there is truly " a practical [way to] look at the risks and

benefits. " Here's why. We simply don't know. What we do know is that the

" genetic purity " of a population of plants could be altered irreversibly by

the introduction of a GM plant.

>For sure, protecting native habitats through establishing reserves would be

essential. A focused political and >financial effort to protect wild

habitats, either by the non-GM groups or the pharmaceutical companies

>themselves, would be extremely important. But I don't think that it can be

categorically said that well->controlled crops of genetically modified

artemisinin-rich qing hao would be a bad thing for the world.

I totally disagree with the statement above that suggests that we can

control GM crops by some means of protecting the native populations through

reserves. This is simply impossible, IMHO. What do you mean by

" well-controlled crops? " How are they controlled? How is the pollen kept out

of the general population? This suggests a closed growing environment, is

that true?

>Malaria remains one of the greatest killers in the world today. It is one

of the most prevalent and ancient >scourges of humanity, and it causes more

suffering than nearly any other contagious disease. Artemisinin is the >only

known agent that has no known drug resistance, but adequate artemisinin

content only occurs in qing hao when >it is grown in a very precise

environment.

Actually, I believe it is the worst infectious disease on the Earth,

infecting 350-500 million people each year, and killing 1-3 million (mostly

children) people each year. I am not an expert, but I know someone who is

and will try to find more information, but I find it hard to believe that a

" very precise environment " is needed to produce adequate artemisinin from

qing hao.

>During a recent trip to the manufacturer of Blue Poppy's formulas, I

noticed that the same factory also produces >pure artemisinin, which they

extract from qing hao that they grow locally with GAP (Good Agricultural

Practices). >The herbal experts on staff, as well as other researches that I

have spoken to, mention that a specific elevation >and environment is

required to grow qing hao with a significant artemisinin content. Thus, they

only grow it in >one authentic, specific region. The same plant cannot be

grown in other areas (like Africa) to yield an effective >amount of

artemisinin.

I simply find this hard to believe. Are you suggesting that only in China

does it produce high levels of artemisinin? It is native from South-Central

Europe through most of Asia to South China. But as many probably know it is

naturalized throughout much of the world...it grows in the in cracks and

crevices throughout Beijing. There must be many places it can be grown with

good results.

>The variability of artemisinin content makes the pure drug more suitable

than the raw herb for precisely measured >treatment (traditionally, the

juice extracted from the raw herb was used for malaria, which also limits

its >applicability). In Africa, hundreds of thousands of people contract

malaria, but the range for artemisinin-rich >qing hao in China is small. The

earth cannot sustain an adequate supply for the global demand in this one

>traditional area. It would be better to grow artemisinin-rich qing hao in

Africa under strict controls. Even if it >would take strict regulation and

GMO crops, growing qing hao in Africa would save millions of lives and vast

>native Chinese herbal habitats.

Again, see above...there are hundreds of millions of people around the

world, mostly in Africa, who contract malaria. I find it hard to believe

that there is no place in the world outside of a few small places in China

where good A. annua (qinghao) can be grown. Where do we draw the line if not

here. The implications go beyond simply considering the number of lives that

may be saved. The implications, I believe, speak to the potential of

destroying our entire ecosystem....

>Finally, despite Gena's emphatic opinion that using plants as chemical

factories for drugs is a universally bad >thing, I have to say that I wonder

if growing a field of plants damages the earth more than a purely synthetic

>route of synthesis.

hmmmm....?

>I would hate to see genetically modified organisms escape into the wild

habitat, and I would never want to see >genetically modified sources of the

herbs that we use in TCM. I'd generally put my foot down against GM products

>in most applications, but I think something like qing hao needs to be

thought about with an open mind. We are >talking about millions of lives, a

unique situation with a plant and its chemistry, and a relatively easily

>controlled ecological situation. Medicine is about helping people, and

extreme views damage our ability to reach >people.

What applications do you think are OK? Again, where do we draw the line?

Easily controlled? Really? How? I agree that fundamentalism and the way it

is often expressed is usually deplorable if not laugable, however I am not

so sure that this case does not require a bit of fundamentalism....but

without the emphatic (and I would say poor) style of communication.

Thanks for bantering about,

thomas

Beijing, China

Author of " Western Herbs According to Traditional : A

Practitioners Guide "

Check out my blog: sourcepointherbs.blogspot.com

July 2, 2009

,

wrote:

> Again, see above...there are hundreds of millions of people around the

> world, mostly in Africa, who contract malaria. I find it hard to believe

> that there is no place in the world outside of a few small places in China

> where good A. annua (qinghao) can be grown.

I'm certainly not pro-GMO by any means, nor do I have any expertise on qing hao.

But the original link mentioned that the reason for doing the GMO qing hao in

the first place was the fact that the artemisinin content was generally too low

in most specimens to make the drug affordable. It seems like the discussion

would be moot if an adequate growing region was enough to solve the problem.

Obviously the best solution would be to find a region where natural qing hao can

produce enough artemisinin to be used for manufacturing the drug. There must be

ways to work with the soil, find a comparable elevation/climate, and just use

good old-fashioned selective breeding to increase the artemisinin yield.

Presumably this would be cheaper, easier, and safer than the GMO approach. I

assume someone has thought about it.

I don't have much to say about this issue. I'm against genetically modified

organisms, so I'm certainly not going to stand up for Monsanto here. But I do

think that these things need to be thought about case-by-case, based on evidence

and not just dogma.

Eric

July 3, 2009

Another point of great concern is that by transforming qing hao into a

crude drug, artemisin, for treating malaria is not much different than

the former use of quinine from cinchona bark. Resistance is built up

easily to single drugs, and then the substance ceases to work. I'd be

interested in whether this has been the case with artemisin. .

On Jul 2, 2009, at 10:25 PM, Eric Brand wrote:

>

> ,

> wrote:

> > Again, see above...there are hundreds of millions of people around

> the

> > world, mostly in Africa, who contract malaria. I find it hard to

> believe

> > that there is no place in the world outside of a few small places

> in China

> > where good A. annua (qinghao) can be grown.

>

> I'm certainly not pro-GMO by any means, nor do I have any expertise

> on qing hao. But the original link mentioned that the reason for

> doing the GMO qing hao in the first place was the fact that the

> artemisinin content was generally too low in most specimens to make

> the drug affordable. It seems like the discussion would be moot if

> an adequate growing region was enough to solve the problem.

> Obviously the best solution would be to find a region where natural

> qing hao can produce enough artemisinin to be used for manufacturing

> the drug. There must be ways to work with the soil, find a

> comparable elevation/climate, and just use good old-fashioned

> selective breeding to increase the artemisinin yield. Presumably

> this would be cheaper, easier, and safer than the GMO approach. I

> assume someone has thought about it.

>

> I don't have much to say about this issue. I'm against genetically

> modified organisms, so I'm certainly not going to stand up for

> Monsanto here. But I do think that these things need to be thought

> about case-by-case, based on evidence and not just dogma.

>

> Eric

>

Chair, Department of Herbal Medicine

Pacific College of Oriental Medicine

San Diego, Ca. 92122

July 3, 2009

, <zrosenbe wrote:

>

> Another point of great concern is that by transforming qing hao into a

> crude drug, artemisin, for treating malaria is not much different than

> the former use of quinine from cinchona bark. Resistance is built up

> easily to single drugs, and then the substance ceases to work. I'd be

> interested in whether this has been the case with artemisin. .

So far, artemisinin is unique because it is the only agent with no known

resistance. Let's hope it stays this way.

I found an article online that seems to suggest that the artemisinin content

could be increased with traditional selective breeding. The abstract is below.

Eric

http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN & cpsidt=14132588

Artemisinin, the endoperoxide sesquiterpene lactone produced by the Chinese

medicinal herb Artemisia annua, is very difficult to synthesise. Moreover, its

production by mean of cell, tissue or organ cultures is very low. Presently,

only its extraction from cultivated plants is viable. A large variation in

artemisinin content has been observed in the leaves of plants from different

origins. The genetic basis of this variation has been assessed and evidence for

a quantitative inheritance of the artemisinin concentration presented. Additive

genetic components were predominant, resulting in a high narrow-sense

heritability estimate. Thus, goods results can be expected from mass selection

for the breeding of lines of Artemisia annua rich in artemisinin. Yet, dominance

variance is also present in the total genetic variability, indicating that

crosses between selected genotypes should generate progenies with particularly

high artemisinin content. As a matter of fact, selection and crossing, in wild

populations, of genotypes with high artemisinin concentration resulted in hybrid

lines containing up to 1.4 % artemisinin (on dry leaves basis).

July 3, 2009

You are correct, Z'ev. Resistance in response to isolated compounds occurs

over time as a general rule, and Artemsin has proven no exception.

http://www.tropika.net/svc/news/20090526/Chinnock-20090526-News-Artemisin-Resist\

ance

________________________________

<zrosenbe

Friday, July 3, 2009 2:26:17 PM

Re: Re: Transgenic Qing Hao

Another point of great concern is that by transforming qing hao into a

crude drug, artemisin, for treating malaria is not much different than

the former use of quinine from cinchona bark. Resistance is built up

easily to single drugs, and then the substance ceases to work. I'd be

interested in whether this has been the case with artemisin.. .

On Jul 2, 2009, at 10:25 PM, Eric Brand wrote:

>

> ,

> <tag.plantgeek@ ...> wrote:

> > Again, see above...there are hundreds of millions of people around

> the

> > world, mostly in Africa, who contract malaria. I find it hard to

> believe

> > that there is no place in the world outside of a few small places

> in China

> > where good A.. annua (qinghao) can be grown.