One of the first organisms that was genetically modified using recombinant DNA technology was a bacterium that normally lives on the surface of strawberry plants. This bacterium makes a protein, called ice-protein, that causes the efficient formation of ice crystals around it when the temperature drops to just below freezing. Thus, strawberries harboring this bacterium are particularly susceptible to frost damage because their cells are destroyed by the ice crystals. Consequently, strawberry farmers have a considerable interest in preventing ice crystallization.

A genetically engineered version of this bacterium was constructed in which the ice-protein gene was knocked out. The mutant bacteria were then introduced in large numbers into strawberry fields, where they displaced the normal bacteria by competition for their ecological niche. This approach has been successful: strawberries bearing the mutant bacteria show a much reduced susceptibility to frost damage.

At the time they were first carried out, the initial open-field trials triggered an intense debate because they represented the first release into the environment of an organism that had been genetically engineered using recombinant DNA technology. Indeed, all preliminary experiments were carried out with extreme caution and in strict containment.

Do you think that bacteria lacking the ice-protein could be isolated without the use of modern DNA technology? Is it likely that such mutations have already occurred in nature? Would the use of a mutant bacterial strain isolated from nature be of lesser concern? Should we be concerned about the risks posed by the application of recombinant DNA techniques in agriculture and medicine? Do the potential benefits outweigh the risks? Explain your answers.