I’ve mentioned Joseph Taylor and the Atlas South Sea Pearl Ltd. a few times over the past year. Joseph is an intriguing chap, one who takes pearl science to unprecedented levels. If you have the opportunity, read his Pinctada maxima doctoral thesis. It contains nearly as much pearl science as The Pearl Oyster, the new Southgate and Lucas book, to which Taylor and Elisabeth Strack contributed a chapter. Atlas is based in Indonesia, but unlike most Indonesian producers they focus on pearls from silver-lip P. max. That’s unusual because the native shell population is overwhelmingly gold-lip. In fact, gold-lip is more prevalent everywhere, although silver-lip proportion rises south of the equator. After seven years of selective breeding, Atlas now grows more than 90 percent silver and white pearls. That, mates, is the work of a PhD marine biologist.
Atlas has teamed up with scientists at James Cook University to grow what they call the "perfect pearl." JCU researchers have sequenced the pearl oyster genome. Their next task is to determine which genes are responsible for producing the finest pearls with the finest colours.
“We’ve essentially got a list of all the genes the oyster uses to produce a pearl,” said Dr Dean Jerry of JCU’s Department of Agriculture. “Now we just need to identify which of those genes make the nicest pearls. Basically, we’ll be testing each gene in thousands of oysters to identify just five or six genes that make the pearl round, shiny and a pure gold colour,” said Jerry.
It will likely be some time before anybody knows whether a recipe for the perfect pearl exists.
This also raises new questions:
Is it certain that pearl quality is solely genetically determined?
If the genes tied to pearl quality are discovered and P. max is narrowly bred, thereby reducing genetic diversity, will not a farm’s entire population be susceptible to the same sort of disaster, whether environmental or disease?
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16 comments:
Lustre and colour can possibly be determined through selective breeding and may be genetically linked although I was of the impression that lustre was also linked to water temperature and the rate of nacre secretion. However shape is affected by completely different influences and I cannot see how an oyster can be bred to produce a round pearl. The shape depends upon the skill of the technician and the care and management of the oysters after the nucleus has been implanted.
It's not really impossible and I wouldn't say it's possible because I don't have the equipment to find the answers. My point is nothing is impossible with the science of genetics or whatever you call it. For example scientists have finally found out how lizards grow back their lost limb and they have experimented it on a mouse and it worked. Soon they could try that to Lance Armstrong if he wanted.
Now imagine if they get a piece of of Albert Einstein brain to create a generation of genious with the good looks of Brad Pitt even though I don't find him hot but he leads the survey according to women and you can also create a human being so talented he will be an all star all in one and to make him even more special they can add the electrifying power of eels so that our Earth can finally have a mutant.
I'm sure if you are familiar with cloning and genes you wouldn't think all of this impossible.
Now imagine if all of the pearls are perfect? I'm sure you know what will happen.
But you don't have to look hard anywhere for a perfect pearl. Pearl Paradise have Freshadama loose pearls that costs about or less than $20! They are all nacre, perfectly round, excellent luster and orient.
Try it! And tell me how do you feel seeing a perfect pearl for the first time?
I believe we need a combination of "good genes" and a healthy environment to produce pearls. If we believe we can continue to stress and destroy our ecosystems and still produce "perfect" (genetically enhanced) pearls then we are in for a surprise.
Place the most "perfect" human (is there such a thing???) in a terrible situation: starvation, pollution, sickness, etc. and you will have a broken person in no time. The same goes for pearl oysters, regardless of their genetic makeup.
At the current rate of environmental destruction, pearls will be a thing of the past in less than 2 decades. All that research for a "perfect pearl" will come to naught. We should first focus on saving our planet.
Genetic diversity plays a vital rile in the adaptability and survival of a species. If a species' environment were altered, whether naturally or by human intervention, the genetic diversity of a species will allow more genetic variations to adapt. If the species were to have little to no genetic diversity are at a much higher risk. It also becomes a problem with reproduction in the form of inbreeding.
The concept of phenotype is important, any genotype is affected by the enviromental factors. But, if you can find those genes in charge of promoting better shapes (roundness) of the pearl you can have a better pearl
Human beings have been evolving ever since. Remember we were fish long before we became apes then as humans. It is our key to our survival.
In the future we will see healtheir humans like me I have never been sick for many, many, many years and I don't know why? When I had a fight with my brothr he hit me many times in my face but I didn't feel pain at all and no black eye either thank God because I treasure my face much more than my brains. I think when I am in danger I just get extra human. I even remember seeing the surroundings of the night like daytime when I had an argument with my enemy because he was so mean and he destroyed my family for years.
Bottomline is we can't stop species from evolving. There are now even oyster worms that lived on trees in the mangrooves of Palawan and they say it tasted like oysters when they eat it.
just a note, 70% of pearl quality comes from environmental factors so although it is a good idea to do selective breeding and finding out the genome of the pearl oyster which will lead to improvements in pearl quality but in the near future to produce the perfect pearl every time will be a very hard thing to do indeed. Unless of course they can be grown in environmentally controlled conditions i.e. in tanks, but at the present time or in the near future it would not be commercially viable not to mention the huge about of space that would be required to support a decent about of fully grown pearl oysters.
I figured it out.
The prof is an Aussie senior citizen who retired from the pearl industry and now keeps his hand in by doing the blog.
Since he's immune from economic consequences by being a pensioner and having invested well, and from personal consequences by maintaining anonymity, he can write anything the hell he wants. He can be a white knight on a high horse, he can be an environmental advocate, he can settle scores, and he can hold industry members to ideals and standards that he probably didn't meet when he was in business.
Sounds good, eh?
One problem, however, with the prof being a senior is that his mind is starting to go, so he writes things like "Atlas Pearl South Sea Pearl." Pretty soon, he'll be pushing the cart in the supermarket as his wife walks ahead, pulls the products off the shelves and drops them in the basket. Nevertheless, his great-grandchildren love him, and he has accepted aboriginals as the first human inhabitants of his home country.
You got me!
I did fix the Atlas Pearl South Sea Pearl typo though!
So, Mr. Pearl Professor then why is it that your profile still states you like to remain anonymous?
People who likes their privacy never mentioned their real names in a sea of crocodiles.
The professor wants to stay anon. because of his embarrassingly ugly, ever growing bald spot. That, and because he would soon be overrun with weirdos e-mailing him crappy video and music clips from You Tube.
Wierdos or not that is how the world works. I'm sure 99.9% of all pearl consumers are all unique. Without these weirdos no pearl business would survive.
So better have a plan B.
I think Master Investigator is the x closest yet, the name, that will be harder to find. How much resources would you need to find out? Too much for most people. I haven't seen any name in a sea of crocodiles-that's a really cockamamie theory.
Anonymous said...
Wierdos or not that is how the world works. I'm sure 99.9% of all pearl consumers are all unique. Without these weirdos no pearl business would survive.
So better have a plan B.
What would a plan B for weirdo pearl buyers be?? You cannot plan for weirdos because they do not fit into any one category you can diagnose, somewhat like the different habits of vampires. As a weirdo pearl buyer myself, I know.
"Rocket Science said...
For example scientists have finally found out how lizards grow back their lost limb and they have experimented it on a mouse and it worked. Soon they could try that to Lance Armstrong if he wanted."
Instead of the lab men helping Lance Armstrong regrow a testicle, they could first try helping you regrow the part of your brain that was missing at birth.
put.med
you are wrong. since i understand you and know how to write i assume my brain working perfectly well...
i'm young and my brain still developing and you are old and yours detoriating and there is nothing you can do about it so go cry to your Mother!
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