What needs to happen if we are going to feed almost 10 billion people by the year 2050 in a sustainable way? Written for first- and second-year university students, this interdisciplinary textbook addresses this challenging question, presenting biological, economic, and sociocultural issues at an introductory level. Presenting and integrating information from many disciplines, this book invites readers to consider the complexity of feeding humanity and increasing food production sustainably. Topics covered include: the development, physiology, and nutrition of plants human nutrition and food safety photosynthesis and energy transformations genetics, molecular biology, and genomics, including the techniques of genetic transformation (gene silencing, gene editing with CRISPR) used in modern crop breeding crop domestication and plant breeding soil ecosystems The applications of modern biotechnology to agriculture extend far beyond GMOs, and include crop improvements that rely on knowledge of the plant’s genomes and its analysis by bioinformatics. Challenging and controversial topics such as the safety of pesticides and GMOs, the increasing demand foranimal products and the stresses this puts on agricultural output, organic farming and foods, and patenting new crop varieties are dealt with in a balanced way, inviting teachers and students to consider all the implications of these serious questions.
Designed to inform and inspire the next generation of plant biotechnologists Plant Biotechnology and Genetics explores contemporary techniques and applications of plant biotechnology, illustrating the tremendous potential this technology has to change our world by improving the food supply. As an introductory text, its focus is on basic science and processes. It guides students from plant biology and genetics to breeding to principles and applications of plant biotechnology. Next, the text examines the critical issues of patents and intellectual property and then tackles the many controversies and consumer concerns over transgenic plants. The final chapter of the book provides an expert forecast of the future of plant biotechnology. Each chapter has been written by one or more leading practitioners in the field and then carefully edited to ensure thoroughness and consistency. The chapters are organized so that each one progressively builds upon the previous chapters. Questions set forth in each chapter help students deepen their understanding and facilitate classroom discussions. Inspirational autobiographical essays, written by pioneers and eminent scientists in the field today, are interspersed throughout the text. Authors explain how they became involved in the field and offer a personal perspective on their contributions and the future of the field. The text's accompanying CD-ROM offers full-color figures that can be used in classroom presentations with other teaching aids available online. This text is recommended for junior- and senior-level courses in plant biotechnology or plant genetics and for courses devoted to special topics at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. It is also an ideal reference for practitioners.
This Special Issue on molecular genetics, genomics, and biotechnology in crop plant breeding seeks to encourage the use of the tools currently available. It features nine research papers that address quality traits, grain yield, and mutations by exploring cytoplasmic male sterility, the delicate control of flowering in rice, the removal of anti-nutritional factors, the use and development of new technologies for non-model species marker technology, site-directed mutagenesis and GMO regulation, genomics selection and genome-wide association studies, how to cope with abiotic stress, and an exploration of fruit trees adapted to harsh environments for breeding purposes. A further four papers review the genetics of pre-harvest spouting, readiness for climate-smart crop development, genomic selection in the breeding of cereal crops, and the large numbers of mutants in straw lignin biosynthesis and deposition.
"The book...is, in fact, a short text on the many practical problems...associated with translating the explosion in basic biotechnological research into the next Green Revolution," explains Economic Botany. The book is "a concise and accurate narrative, that also manages to be interesting and personal...a splendid little book." Biotechnology states, "Because of the clarity with which it is written, this thin volume makes a major contribution to improving public understanding of genetic engineering's potential for enlarging the world's food supply...and can be profitably read by practically anyone interested in application of molecular biology to improvement of productivity in agriculture."
This book links the latest advances in molecular genetics with the science and history of plant domestication, the evolution of plant breeding, and the implications of our new knowledge for the agriculture of today and the future.
Plant molecular biology came to the fore in the early 1980s and there has been tremendous growth in the subject since then. The study of plant genes and genomes, coupled with the development of techniques for the incorporation of novel or modified genes into plants, eventually led to the commercialisation of genetically modified (GM) crops in the mid-1990s. This was seen as the start of a biotechnological revolution in plant breeding. However, plant biotechnology became one of the hottest debates of the age and, in Europe at least, has been mired in controversy and over-regulation. Nevertheless, recent years have seen further technological innovation in the development of a range of techniques that enable scientists to make specific changes to target genes.Through a detailed history and development of the science and techniques that underpin crop biotechnology, this title is concise, comprehensive and readable. As well as new sections on genome editing, this edition includes expanded sections on current GM crops and future developments in plant biotechnology, and updated sections on techniques, legislation and the GM crop debate.The previous edition of this book, titled Genetically Modified Crops, 2nd Edition, was published in November 2011.
Plant Biotechnology presents a balanced, objective exploration of the technology behind genetic manipulation, and its application to the growth and cultivation of plants. The book describes the techniques underpinning genetic manipulation and makes extensive use of case studies to illustrate how this influential tool is used in practice.
Assists policymakers in evaluating the appropriate scientific methods for detecting unintended changes in food and assessing the potential for adverse health effects from genetically modified products. In this book, the committee recommended that greater scrutiny should be given to foods containing new compounds or unusual amounts of naturally occurring substances, regardless of the method used to create them. The book offers a framework to guide federal agencies in selecting the route of safety assessment. It identifies and recommends several pre- and post-market approaches to guide the assessment of unintended compositional changes that could result from genetically modified foods and research avenues to fill the knowledge gaps.
Genetically engineered (GE) crops were first introduced commercially in the 1990s. After two decades of production, some groups and individuals remain critical of the technology based on their concerns about possible adverse effects on human health, the environment, and ethical considerations. At the same time, others are concerned that the technology is not reaching its potential to improve human health and the environment because of stringent regulations and reduced public funding to develop products offering more benefits to society. While the debate about these and other questions related to the genetic engineering techniques of the first 20 years goes on, emerging genetic-engineering technologies are adding new complexities to the conversation. Genetically Engineered Crops builds on previous related Academies reports published between 1987 and 2010 by undertaking a retrospective examination of the purported positive and adverse effects of GE crops and to anticipate what emerging genetic-engineering technologies hold for the future. This report indicates where there are uncertainties about the economic, agronomic, health, safety, or other impacts of GE crops and food, and makes recommendations to fill gaps in safety assessments, increase regulatory clarity, and improve innovations in and access to GE technology.