Hope Not Hype - Third World Network

132 Hope Not Hype
Figure A1.1: Molecules that are co-factors and products of a biochemical pathway
“replicate”. This unites the molecules of DNA and RNA when they are functioning
as genetic material. DNA and RNA are polymers, or chains, of nucleotides. The
circular arrow represents the biochemical pathway from substrate (nucleotides)
to product (DNA or RNA); polymerase represents the enzymes necessary for
replication and they use an existing polymer of the product (nucleic acid, NA) to
synthesize descendant molecules.
In general, when a molecule (e.g., DNA) is both a co-factor and a product of a series
of biochemical reactions within a biological system, it can operate as a gene (Heinemann
and Roughan, 2000; Strohman, 1997). DNA is synthesized using one strand as a co-factor
and free nucleotides as precursors. Gene silencing, caused by dsRNA molecules, is a
phenomenon that is sometimes heritable and self-replicating. Gene silencing is a trait
determined by materials that are involved in their own synthesis but through biochemical
pathways that are different to DNA replication.
Is RNA just a chemical
ERMA’s General Manager of Strategy and Analysis noted that ERMA’s task (and
thus, that for reviewers) was to assess under the HSNO legal framework whether the
material to which an organism was exposed was “genetic material” or was instead
equivalent to a “chemical”. 3 Under a literal interpretation of the definition of modern
biotechnology from the Cartagena Protocol –
3
Meeting with ERMA staff, 20 August 2007.