[geeks] RE: [rescue] OT: ADD - MOVING to geeks

[Joshua D Boyd]

On Mon, Jul 08, 2002 at 11:11:16PM -0500, Jennifer Sharp wrote:
> He is making blue roses. He started explaining why it was so difficult
> to make them (something about Ph) but I didn't get to finish hearing
> all he had to say, James drug me away. He is a very interesting man.

I can imagine the trouble.  

The short of it is that the coloring comes from an enzyme.  There is
no enzyme for blue present in roses.  So the splicing would be to
produce it.  But then, once done, the exact coloring is controlled by
environmental factors, such as pH, metalic ions, and other pigments.
But, tweaking the pH can be tricky, most so than the other factors.
You need to adjust it, but adjustments of even a tenth can cause the
plant problems[1]. 

Blue roses appear a lot in arabian mythology.  They generally are used
either as a sign or a source of (or item of) power.  I would imagine
that there would be a large market for such a flower.

But then, imagine being able to give a mythical flower to a SO or
PSO.  That'd be worth an awefull lot of euros.


--
Joshua D. Boyd

[1] Heck, minute pH changes cause us problems also.  It's just that we
resist it better than most simpler life forms due to complex buffering
systems.