Micro-chip in endangered plants? -Forwarded

[Ma. del Carmen Donovarros A.]

Mr Kaneen,

I suggest you to consult the next Web site:

http://www.conabio.gob.mx/informacion/index.html

The information is about the use of green certifiers for more effective
wildlife trade control and enforcement. The project looks at certifiers
(including "molecular markers", such as isotope tracing or tagging,
genetic fingerprinting, and "bio-markers" such as transponder chips, and
certificates of origin) as a way to trace the origin of live specimens
and as products.

 _________________________

   Ma. del Carmen Donovarros A.

   Comision Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad
   (Mexican Commission of Biodiversity)
   http://www.conabio.gob.mx

      Fernandez Leal 43
      Barrio de la Concepcion, Coyoacan.
      04020 Mexico, D.F.
      MEXICO

      Tel. (5) 422-3500 extension 3542
      Fax  (5) 422-3531

On Fri, 25 Jun 1999, Ron Kaneen wrote:

> I have not heard about embedding microchips in plants, but Dr. Eleanor
> White of the Pacific Forestry Center has been working on a way to track
> stolen *Thuja plicata.*  (A student at the university I attended up until
> this past year was working on this for her undergraduate project.) Wood is
> checked by extracting and comparing DNA samples with that of trees believed
> to be stolen or illegally logged.  PCR with suitable primers (many have
> been attempted and proven unsuccessful unitl recently) can be used to
> ampify small amounts of plant DNA.  Dr. White recently won an award for
> this.  This is not a new idea, but it has not been proven to be very
> successful until now.
>
>
>
> Colin Kaneen
>
> At 16:39 99/06/24 +0200, you wrote:
> >One application of microchips is where conservation authorities
> >embed these into trunks of Encephalartos spp. growing in the
> >wild, in order to trace illegally removed specimens back to the
> >original population, should they appear in the horticultural market.
> >
> >The Northern Province dept. of Environment - Biodiversity unit
> >bio at cis.co.za
> >should be able to provide further details in this regard. As far
> >as I am aware,  in some cases permits for legally owned
> >plants are cross-referenced to an embedded microchip as well.
> >
>