Fungus
Funding
2/5/99
In last week's editions of the Week Online and DRCNN, we reported on a U.S. government-funded project to develop killer fungi to wipe out coca, opium poppy, and marijuana plants around the world. The story noted that as of press time, a spokeswoman for Agricultural Research Services (ARS), the USDA program that received the funding for the research, had not returned phone calls requesting information on the status of the project. This Monday, however, we received a call from the spokeswoman, Sandy Miller Hayes, who corrected and clarified some of the points DRCNet made in the original story. (Original story online at http://www.drcnet.org/wol/076.html#fungi.) First, Hayes stressed that contrary to most published reports about the project (including the Week Online), ARS researchers will not tamper with the fungi's genetic codes. Rather, the research will focus on naturally-occurring mycoherbicides and test the feasibility of cultivating and releasing them in greater concentrations in target areas. "We're not trying to develop any kind of superbug here," she said. Asked whether a mycoherbicide would know the difference between industrial hemp and cannabis, Hayes said, "We are asked that question a lot, and I believe the answer is no. A fungus which selectively attacked marijuana plants would probably destroy industrial hemp as well." But, she added, the ARS project will focus only on coca for the time being. What about the danger of mycoherbicides spreading to "legitimate" drug crops, grown for medicinal purposes, as well as other narcotics crops considered acceptable in some countries and not in others? Hayes acknowledged that care would have to be taken to protect medicinal crops. "Of course," she added, "every country would decide for itself whether and how to use these fungi." Finally, asked about the potential for the fungi to mutate and spread to non-drug crops, Hayes said ARS scientists believe such a scenario is unlikely. "First, the subspecies of the kind of fungus we're talking about, fusarium oxysporum erythroxyli in the case of coca, does not reproduce sexually. Second, there is no record of other subspecies of fusarium oxysporum recombining. Third, when virulent strains of fungi mutate, their pathogenicity tends to become diluted, so the new strain is less powerful than the old." Hayes said the project is still in the early phases, and there are no plans yet to introduce fusarium oxysporum erythroxyli in situ. "We're still hiring scientists" to work on the project, she said. DRCNet will continue to monitor the story.
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