GMO Tasmanian poppies

[yawning man]

Hello

As an interested observer of things, it's come to my attention that trials of GMO Poppies have been running in tasmania since the late 90's. My concern is that the seed available in the supermarkets is from a GMO source.

Apparently all trials are run in animal and insect proof enclosures but i'm sure that means fuck all. If this is all true then for the bakers in all of us I can only hope that there are some heirloom varieties of poppies that yield many benefits.

I'm also hoping people who have more knowledge on the subject could share a bit with us.

Thanks

 

[opi8]

I've read that they keep the crops separate and don't use the seeds for baking/eating because they're proprietary. No sources, but that's just what I've read over the years.

 

[gimpan]

Are they the ones that pharmaceutical companies want? the ones that dont produce morphine?

 

[Cruel Intentions]

They grow everywhere (well in many places I visited) there. You just need to climb the electric fence and the plantations are your playground. Don't get caught.

 

[justsayknow]

I don't think the Tasmanians are growing GMO poppies but they are growing poppies that have been selected for a mutation that makes them high in thebaine and oripavine with out producing any morphine. Its so they can use the former to make oxycodone and other synthetics. I haven't been able to find anything from the producer to say what they do with the seeds and what happens when normal poppies are pollinated by the mutant variety.

Going on a couple of posts elsewhere the seeds are destroyed and the mutant gene is recessive but I have not seen a source for these claims.

Google Norman Poppy for more reading.

Or a good summary is:
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2004/09/23/1203133.htm

 

[justsayknow]

I found lots of stuff from about 10 years ago about the GMO research but nothing recent and nothing about them using GMO poppies for production. The most recent thing I could find was this article saying they decided not to use them:
http://opioids.com/opium/superpoppy.html

The initial 2001 Tasmanian report on GMO poppies is here