Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
12.8
CONCLUSIONS
Humans have a long history of genetically modifying crops and animals to suit our needs.
In most cases these modifications have made the crop or animal less suitable for survi-
val without human intervention. Recent efforts in genetic modification have involved
the introduction of genes from other species to give the plant or animal traits not
easily obtained by traditional breeding methods. These methods have caused much con-
troversy in many parts of the world and remain to be resolved.
QUESTIONS
1. What is the difference between genetically modified and transgenic?
2. What is domestication?
3. What is conventional breeding?
4. Describe a crop trait that is typical of first-generation transgenic crops.
5. How does net revenue of cotton change when Bt cotton varieties are used in China?
6. What is so unique about 86 Squared?
7. What is unique about the transgenic cow, GEM?
8. How does cloning differ from genetic modification?
9. What is hybrid maize?
10. What is a third-generation transgenic crop?
REFERENCES
1. EcoHealth: Environmental Change and Our Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School
of Public Health. Available at: http://www.ecohealth101.org.
2. Safety of Genetically Engineered Foods, Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine,
Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources, Board on Life Sciences, National Academies
Press, Washington, D.C., 2004.
3. P. Gepts, A Comparison between Crop Domestication, Classical Plant Breeding, and Genetic
Engineering, Crop Sci., 42, 1780 - 1790, 2002.
4. T. Johns and S. L. Keen, Taste Evaluation of Potato Glycoalkaloids by the Aymara: A Case
Study in Human Chemical Ecology, Human Ecology, 14, 437 - 452, 1986.
5. S. Konishi, T. Izawa, S. Y. Lin, K. Ebana, Y. Fukuta, T. Sasaki, and M. Yano, An SNP Caused
Loss of Seed Shattering During Rice Domestication, Science, 312, 1392 - 1396, 2006.
6. The History and Prevalence of Genetically Modified Organisms, PowerPoint presentation.
Available at: Northwest Association for Biomedical Research web page, http://www.nwabr.
org/education/articles/2005Lessons/GMO_05/256,1,
The
History
and
Prevalence
of
Genetically Modified Organisms.
7. J. Sapp, The Nine Lives of Gregor Mendel. Available at: http://www.mendelweb.org/
MWsapp.html.
