Discusses the potential benefits of, and constraints to the application of biotechnology in agriculture in developing countries, and the various policy issues confronting national agricultural research systems and the international development community.
In 1865, Gregor Mendel presented "Experiments in Plant-Hybridization," the results of his eight-year study of the principles of inheritance through experimentation with pea plants. Overlooked in its day, Mendel's work would later become the foundation of modern genetics. Did his pioneering research follow the rigors of real scientific inquiry, or was Mendel's data too good to be true—the product of doctored statistics? In Ending the Mendel-Fisher Controversy, leading experts present their conclusions on the legendary controversy surrounding the challenge to Mendel's findings by British statistician and biologist R. A. Fisher. In his 1936 paper "Has Mendel's Work Been Rediscovered?" Fisher suggested that Mendel's data could have been falsified in order to support his expectations. Fisher attributed the falsification to an unknown assistant of Mendel's. At the time, Fisher's criticism did not receive wide attention. Yet beginning in 1964, about the time of the centenary of Mendel's paper, scholars began to publicly discuss whether Fisher had successfully proven that Mendel's data was falsified. Since that time, numerous articles, letters, and comments have been published on the controversy.This self-contained volume includes everything the reader will need to know about the subject: an overview of the controversy; the original papers of Mendel and Fisher; four of the most important papers on the debate; and new updates, by the authors, of the latter four papers. Taken together, the authors contend, these voices argue for an end to the controversy-making this book the definitive last word on the subject.
Polyploidy – whole-genome duplication (WGD) – is a fundamental driver of biodiversity with significant consequences for genome structure, organization, and evolution. Once considered a speciation process common only in plants, polyploidy is now recognized to have played a major role in the structure, gene content, and evolution of most eukaryotic genomes. In fact, the diversity of eukaryotes seems closely tied to multiple WGDs. Polyploidy generates new genomic interactions – initially resulting in “genomic and transcriptomic shock” – that must be resolved in a new polyploid lineage. This process essentially acts as a “reset” button, resulting in genomic changes that may ultimately promote adaptive speciation. This book brings together for the first time the conceptual and theoretical underpinnings of polyploid genome evolution with syntheses of the patterns and processes of genome evolution in diverse polyploid groups. Because polyploidy is most common and best studied in plants, the book emphasizes plant models, but recent studies of vertebrates and fungi are providing fresh perspectives on factors that allow polyploid speciation and shape polyploid genomes. The emerging paradigm is that polyploidy – through alterations in genome structure and gene regulation – generates genetic and phenotypic novelty that manifests itself at the chromosomal, physiological, and organismal levels, with long-term ecological and evolutionary consequences.
Black & white print. Concepts of Biology is designed for the typical introductory biology course for nonmajors, covering standard scope and sequence requirements. The text includes interesting applications and conveys the major themes of biology, with content that is meaningful and easy to understand. The book is designed to demonstrate biology concepts and to promote scientific literacy.
A study of the groundbreaking work in genetics conducted by Gregor Mendel, acclaimed as the father of modern genetics, argues that the Moravian monk was far ahead of his time.
This Research Topic addresses research in genomics and biotechnology to improve the growth and quality of forest trees for wood, pulp, biorefineries and carbon capture. Forests are the world’s greatest repository of terrestrial biomass and biodiversity. Forests serve critical ecological services, supporting the preservation of fauna and flora, and water resources. Planted forests also offer a renewable source of timber, for pulp and paper production, and the biorefinery. Despite their fundamental role for society, thousands of hectares of forests are lost annually due to deforestation, pests, pathogens and urban development. As a consequence, there is an increasing need to develop trees that are more productive under lower inputs, while understanding how they adapt to the environment and respond to biotic and abiotic stress. Forest genomics and biotechnology, disciplines that study the genetic composition of trees and the methods required to modify them, began over a quarter of a century ago with the development of the first genetic maps and establishment of early methods of genetic transformation. Since then, genomics and biotechnology have impacted all research areas of forestry. Genome analyses of tree populations have uncovered genes involved in adaptation and response to biotic and abiotic stress. Genes that regulate growth and development have been identified, and in many cases their mechanisms of action have been described. Genetic transformation is now widely used to understand the roles of genes and to develop germplasm that is more suitable for commercial tree plantations. However, in contrast to many annual crops that have benefited from centuries of domestication and extensive genomic and biotechnology research, in forestry the field is still in its infancy. Thus, tremendous opportunities remain unexplored. This Research Topic aims to briefly summarize recent findings, to discuss long-term goals and to think ahead about future developments and how this can be applied to improve growth and quality of forest trees.
Something as small as a seed can have a worldwide impact. Did you know there are top-secret seed vaults hidden throughout the world? And once a seed disappears, that’s it—it’s gone forever? With the growth of genetically modified foods, the use of many seeds is dwindling—of 80,000 edible plants, only about 150 are being cultivated. With a global cast of men and women, scientists and laypeople, and photographic documentation, Nancy Castaldo chronicles where our food comes from, and more importantly, where it is going as she digs deeper into the importance of seeds in our world. This empowering book also calls young adult readers to action with suggestions as to how they can preserve the variety of one of our most valuable food sources through simple everyday actions. Readers of Michael Pollen will enjoy the depth and fascinatingly intricate social economy of seeds.
"The author begins by defining phenotypic plasticity and detailing its history, including important experiments and methods of statistical and graphical analysis. He then provides extended examples and discussion of the molecular basis of plasticity, the plasticity of development, the ecology of plastic responses, and the role of costs and constraints in the evolution of plasticity. A brief epilogue looks at how plasticity studies shed light on the nature/nurture debate in the popular media.".