<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
 
I received the following note from a molecular biologist and thought it
would be of interest to the list.
 
Dear Debra,
I read your note on the celiac newgroup and thought I should reply to you.
I am a plant molecular biologist working on genetically engineered plants,
and I can assure you that pest resistance genes or drought resistance genes
have nothing to do with gluten containing proteins and their associated
genes.  The reason it is nessesary to use barley to collect genes is
because it is a monocot species, as is rice (long skinny leaves on a plant
mean its usually a monocot).  It is much easier to put monocot genes into
another monocot, because the RNA gets processed correctly.  Therefore
disease resistance or drought resistance genes that have been identified in
barley can be transferred easily to rice.  And I repeat, these genes of
interest have nothing to do with gluten containing proteins and their
associated genes.
Sincerely,
Margaret