Read about this in my local paper this morning. The research has received $7.9 million from the US government. http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/01/27/bomb-sniffing-plants-fight-terrorism/ http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_17210850
For this amount of money, imagine what could be done with Mimosa pudica, or Venus Fly Trap ('Little Shop of Horrors'?)---jimsonweed, manchineel, Dieffenbachia, giant hogweed, or Ecballium elaterium. The mind boggles.
Lorax - Has that often or ever stopped Human Beans from doing something? I have heard rumours that Marijuana breeders are genetically engineering the ability to produce THC into another species. There's a poser. ...Homo shortsightedlygreatlyenthusiaticus?
Oh, very very rarely. We have a number of examples of poor foresight, Hiroshima and Nagasaki being a pair with a really high and obvious toll.... Even so, the question is raised. Whether Homo experimentwitheverythingicus ssp. regardlessoftheconsequencesiense will heed it is another debate entirely.
Debate overheard at a watercooler somewhere in the world: "Let's genetically modify a plant!" "What for?" "I dunno, whatever. We can probably get a grant tho' " "OK, great. Can you do the paperwork?" "Sure" "Let me know when it's accepted OK? See ya!" Lorax - Is this the debate you meant? percy.