Triffids of the Sierra Nevada

Triffids of the Sierra Nevada ››: The BBC is reporting that Columbian druglords may have developed a GM variety of the coca plant that is huge and treelike, gives higher yields of cocaine, and is resistant to herbicides and defoliants used in the War On Drugs. Not exactly new, this story was in the Daily Telegraph on 27-Aug-04. The BBC doesn't seem to be reporting anything new, just keeping the rumour going. Oh, except for a remark by a Columbian toxicologist that there is no evidence of genetic modification but perhaps just of excessive fertilizer use. The development of such plants is plausible enough, I suppose, given the druglords's revenue and the business incentives for R&D investment, and is orthologous to a throwaway joke in the movie American Beauty. It wouldn't be too hard to find whether or not the plants have been modified if this were real so how come all we have is rumour, speculation and paid-by-the-column-inch reporting? An urban legend being born, albeit one that might become true later?; [Permalink…08-Dec-04…Deserving memes…]

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