Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by apinstein 1795 days ago
Because it’s epigenetics! No novel gene sequences are introduced. Just a change in what natural genes are expressed and at what levels.
2 comments

No. The FTO gene from humans was inserted into the genome of these plants. That gene produced a protein that performs RNA demethylation, which isn't even epigenetics, because epigenetics is the set of extra stuff that happens on DNA, not RNA.
Oh my bad I didn’t read the full article. Of course, insertion of a gene to do demethylation would be genetic modification.
How novel is the idea then?