Mutant gamma rays in my barley!

[matt76]

Spotted this in a serious science book by a notable author. As as man of science this isn't an issue to me, and I'd heard of it in other areas of agriculture. Nevertheless, the mention of a specific grain I use did rather jump out at me

"Mutant barley and oats are widely grown in Europe. In the UK, Golden Promise barley, a mutant created by zapping plants with gamma rays, is grown to make beer and whisky. There's no danger at all from the radiation in the crops that are being grown - it's already done it's work, scrambling DNA in their ancestors, and producing useful variants."

From Chapter 6 of "Tamed - Ten Species That Changed Our World" by Prof. Alice Roberts

 

[Horners]

Spotted this in a serious science book by a notable author. As as man of science this isn't an issue to me, and I'd heard of it in other areas of agriculture. Nevertheless, the mention of a specific grain I use did rather jump out at me

"Mutant barley and oats are widely grown in Europe. In the UK, Golden Promise barley, a mutant created by zapping plants with gamma rays, is grown to make beer and whisky. There's no danger at all from the radiation in the crops that are being grown - it's already done it's work, scrambling DNA in their ancestors, and producing useful variants."

From Chapter 6 of "Tamed - Ten Species That Changed Our World" by Prof. Alice Roberts

Interesting have just purchased some GP to use as an alternative to the MO I normally use - had assumed it was a traditional/ heritage variety

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Both Otter and GP are "traditional" in that they have been supplanted by more modern varieties, but both are products of the 1960s "Green Revolution".

A collaboration between Invergowrie and the Carlsberg lab recently identified the semi-dwarfing mutation that is typical of GP over its parent Maythorpe : https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0168924

 

[An Ankoù]

Spotted this in a serious science book by a notable author. As as man of science this isn't an issue to me, and I'd heard of it in other areas of agriculture. Nevertheless, the mention of a specific grain I use did rather jump out at me

"Mutant barley and oats are widely grown in Europe. In the UK, Golden Promise barley, a mutant created by zapping plants with gamma rays, is grown to make beer and whisky. There's no danger at all from the radiation in the crops that are being grown - it's already done it's work, scrambling DNA in their ancestors, and producing useful variants."

From Chapter 6 of "Tamed - Ten Species That Changed Our World" by Prof. Alice Roberts

This is one of the most interesting and useful applications of science- to get your beer to glow so that you can find it in the dark.

 

[Clint]

AND...if you drink enough you grow huge muscles,turn green and burst out of your clothes...thus ensuring nobody steals your brew.

 

[foxy]

On the subject of agriculture, with the world phosphate in decline, a study at Monash University involving thousands of species of plants have found that denying the plants access to phosphate causes them to go into survival mode. Plants dwarfed and started producing more arsenic, sorghum produced enough arsenic to kill a cow.
https://www.theguardian.com/environ...fertiliser-crisis-threatens-world-food-supply

 

[Rakey]

Spotted this in a serious science book by a notable author. As as man of science this isn't an issue to me, and I'd heard of it in other areas of agriculture. Nevertheless, the mention of a specific grain I use did rather jump out at me

"Mutant barley and oats are widely grown in Europe. In the UK, Golden Promise barley, a mutant created by zapping plants with gamma rays, is grown to make beer and whisky. There's no danger at all from the radiation in the crops that are being grown - it's already done it's work, scrambling DNA in their ancestors, and producing useful variants."

From Chapter 6 of "Tamed - Ten Species That Changed Our World" by Prof. Alice Roberts

Its true and I thought it was fairly well known, I have had a conversation with a maltster about it previously who was trying to get me to switch to using Maris Otter more, didn't put me off using it though and its still my base malt of choice in most recipes.

 

[An Ankoù]

AND...if you drink enough you grow huge muscles,turn green and burst out of your clothes...thus ensuring nobody steals your brew.

Bruce Banner likes this.

 

[Clint]

We ain't half having a good time on ere!

 

[Northern_Brewer]

On the subject of agriculture, with the world phosphate in decline, a study at Monash University involving thousands of species of plants have found that denying the plants access to phosphate causes them to go into survival mode. Plants dwarfed and started producing more arsenic

Not quite true - nothing "produces" arsenic except supernovas and the like. But phosphate and arsenate are in the same group of the Periodic Table and compete for the same transporters etc in plants, so if there's not enough phosphorus around then those transporters will take up arsenic instead.

But as usual with these things - it's complicated.

 

[Clint]

****...

 

[johncrobinson]

RE Mat 76 I think the mutant barley was actually produced for the Scotch whiskey industry.

 

[johncrobinson]

I think future plans are being drawn up to dredge the phosphate from the ocean floor (Where it ends up )and resell it (For a price.)

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Golden Promise was actually bred by Miln Marsters of Chester, but was widely adopted for growing in northern conditions, not least because it coped better with wind, and in the 70s and 80s provided almost all the barley for Scotch whisky. They don't make whiskEy in Scotland though....

 

[johncrobinson]

Ive noticed if a few posts i have spelled it whiskey rather than whisky dont know why ?
As i am now living in Scotland.