Modern Biotechnology’s Significance to Current Agricultural Scenario
Monday, September 6th, 2010
Our world is threatened by food shortage (among other threats) resulting from climate change and population growth. Climate change is making yields of food crops unpredictable as they depend on the weather under traditional farming practices. And population growth is tending to push up demand for food beyond availability.
A solution to the problem under such a scenario might lie in the adoption of modern biotechnology in traditional societies. For example, Professor Walter Sandow Alhassan, Project Coordinator for Safe Biotechnology Management in Sub-Saharan Africa (SABIMA) under the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), recently called upon the people of Ghana, Africa, to adopt modern biotechnology in farming.
Modern biotechnology is seeking to tackle several issues related to farming. The following are some of the major issues biotechnology is seeking to help with:
* Expansion of arable land by developing crops that can grow in areas formerly unfit for the crops
* Increasing the yield of crops through genetic modification of the crops
* Preventing pollution of human and animal habitats that occurs now from agro-chemical runoffs
* Finding a way to tackle the crop pests that have so far proven intractable
* Finding cures for the diseases that affect plants and animals
* Developing alternatives for fossil fuels used in agricultural operations, as the fuel supplies are not only getting exhausted but also becoming costlier
* Tackling the stresses resulting from climate change
Read the news story at GhanaWeb.
Tags: biotechnology, climate change, food crops, food shortage
Posted in biotechnology, crop science, diseases, genetic modification | No Comments »
Bt Brinjal and the GM Crops Dilemma
Wednesday, August 11th, 2010
The Indian government has put an indefinite moratorium on the commercial release of genetically modified Bt Brinjal (egg plant). The moratorium was imposed in response to a situation where “there is no clear consensus within the scientific community itself, when there is so much opposition from the state governments, civil society organizations and eminent scientists have raised many serious questions not been answered satisfactorily,” according to the central government minister.
Critics of Bt Brinjal argue that the new engineered crop could destroy the vast bio-diversity of the numerous varieties of local brinjal. Preserving bio-diversity is critical because many of the genetic traits of the different varieties could prove invaluable. For example, new high-yielding varieties of rice that led to the Indian green revolution made governments neglect several local rice varieties that had traits like drought-resistance (though not high yields).
On the other hand, opponents of the moratorium point out that with the “uncertainty prevailing about GM crops, the companies wanting to invest in bio technology in agricultural sector would be hesitant to do so.” They complain that “there has been no palpable, effective and time bound effort to resolve the uncertainties caused by the moratorium.”
The case is an excellent example of the dilemma caused by GM crops with fears such as destruction of bio-diversity and unknown risks on one part and the risk of losing the benefits of scientific research on the other.
Read the news at Financial Express.
Tags: biodiversity, biotechnology, genetic modification, GM crops
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Biotechnology Applications in the Textile Industry
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
Biotechnology improves crops by tailoring their properties or transferring properties from one organism to another. Both these processes involve working with the organisms’ genes (that determine genetic characteristics), made possible by advances in genetic engineering.
Genetic engineering has already benefited the textile industry and promises much more. For example, cotton, which is the leading fiber used by the textile industry, is vulnerable to attacks by many insects. Cotton also has poor tolerance against herbicides used to kill weeds in irrigated cotton fields. By working with the genes of the crop, scientists are hoping to develop insect and herbicide resistant varieties of cotton.
Another objective is to develop cotton varieties that will be naturally colored, say blue or vivid red, so that bleaching and dyeing of textiles can be eliminated. Research is also going on to provide other desirable properties at a genetic level.
In Australia, sheep is being “engineered” to secrete an insect repellant from its hair follicles to resist attacks from blowfly, and also stop hair growth so that wool can be “pulled off” instead of being sheared. Shearing wool from sheep is a cumbersome and time-consuming process.
Biotechnology is helping not only such genetic engineering results but is also helping in disease diagnostics and new forms of therapy, for example.
Read the great post on biotechnology applications in textile industry at The World of Snark.
Tags: biotechnology, crop science, genetic engineering, GM crops
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Biotech Research for Increased Sugar from Sugarcane
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010
Bayer CropScience and the CTC, the Center for Sugarcane Technology, São Paulo, Brazil, are planning to cooperate in research to develop biotech sugarcane varieties. Early research indicates the possibility of obtaining 30 to 40 percent higher amounts of sugar from the new varieties. The products are expected to be submitted for regulatory approval by 2015.
CTC hopes to tap the biotech expertise of Bayer for extending the traits of sugarcane while Bayer will be expanding its plant technology activities to cover sugarcane. Brazil produces about 40 percent of world’s sugar output. Sugarcane yields not only sugar, but also ethanol and energy.
Bayer is already familiar with sugarcane, having been providing products and solutions to this segment for 30 years. The company is now targeting significant productivity increases for the ethanol industry. CTC’s research extends from sugarcane-breeding to industrial processing.
According to Joachim Schneider, Head of the Business Operations Unit BioScience at Bayer CropScience, sugarcane is the most productive crop for economically viable renewable energy with the best CO2 balance. CTC hopes to leverage this advantage and add more value to the sugarcane production and processing chain, and enhance its competitiveness in this segment.
Read more at Bayer CropScience press release.
Tags: biotechnology, crop science, sugar yield, sugarcane
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The Second Green Revolution will Need GM Technology
Saturday, April 24th, 2010
In the article titled How Science Could Spark a Second Green Revolution, the author reports that a Pennsylvania State University professor and his colleagues have been working to develop crops with longer roots. Growing steeper and deeper into the ground, these roots will be able to find more moisture and nutrients.
According to the report, the team has been able to identify root traits that can produce “two or three times more food without fertilizer.” The professor, Jonathan Lynch, uses traditional cross-breeding techniques, and has also identified an unrecognized trait in corn that can improve yields eightfold in drought conditions.
The focus on root traits and drought resistant crops has a sound basis. In the first green revolution, focus was on fertilizer use and improved irrigation to increase agricultural productivity. However, with diminishing availability of good land, we need crops that can grow under hostile conditions.
Crops will have to be cultivated on marginal lands where both water and artificial fertilizer will be scarce. Additionally, climate change is likely to make presently agriculture-friendly regions drier and hotter. It is in this context that crops with roots that can get water and nutrients from deeper soil become significant.
Though Lynch had used traditional cross-breeding techniques, it is generally considered that Genetically Modified (GM) crops hold the key to the second green revolution. Though GM crops are facing opposition on safety and other considerations, genetic engineering seems to be only real solution for the likely food shortages in the future, according to many experts.
Read the full article at Checkbiotech.
Tags: biotechnology, crop science, cross breeding, drought resistance, genetic modification
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What should We Believe about Genetically Modified Crops?
Friday, April 16th, 2010
Genetically Modified (GM) crops are targets for an often violent debate. Advocates of GM crops point to the higher yields and benefits like built-in pest resistance that modifying the genes of the crops can provide. Opponents say that the safety of GM crops has not been proven through long-term use and that they might cause unforeseen harm to environment and consumers.
Traditionally, the technique of cross-breeding between different species has been used to transfer desirable characteristics from one species to another. However, this procedure is time-consuming and cannot often produce the specific results that we want.
Genetic modification involves working with the genes of crop plants. Because it is genes that determine the characteristics of organisms, it is possible to change the characteristics by modifying the genes using molecular biotechnology. Scientists might, for example, locate a gene that provides drought resistance, and insert that gene into a plant used as food crop. Done successfully, this can provide drought resistance trait to the food crop.
Genetic modification has provided several advantages:
- Crops with pest-resistance eliminate the need to use pesticides, with consequent lower costs and also elimination of the health hazards that pesticides cause
- Crops resistant to herbicides can also provide a somewhat similar benefit. Herbicides are used to destroy weeds that reduce crop yields. Application of herbicides can affect the crop and also cause environmental damage. Both these results can be reduced by making the crops herbicide resistant
- Genetic modification that can improve resistance against viruses, fungi and bacteria that cause damage to crops can increase crop yields
- Tolerance for drought, cold and salinity can make it possible to grow crops in conditions formerly not possible, and thus meet the ever-increasing demand for food
- People in poorer countries often depend on a single food, such as rice. These food items might not provide adequate nutrition. Genetic modification can make such food items more balanced in nutritive value
- If food crops can be modified to provide medicinal and disease prevention benefits presently provided by medicines and vaccines, both availability and affordability of the medicines and vaccines can be improved
- Non-food plants have been modified to clean up the environment, e.g. remove metal pollutants from contaminated soil
Opposition to GM crops have been also gaining strength, mainly because of:
- Toxins designed to kill one type of organism, viz. pests, can also kill other, unintended, organisms. For example, pollen from B.t. corn is reported to have killed monarch butterfly caterpillars, a finding that is being contested by industry groups and others
- Pests might become resistant to plants that have been modified for pest-resistance, just as mosquitoes become resistant to DDT
- Genes can be transferred to other species through natural cross-breeding, causing not-so-beneficial results and other problems. For example, weeds might gain herbicide resistance from herbicide resistant crops, making them “super weeds.” GM characteristics might also be passed on to non-GM crops in neighboring fields, resulting in problems for farmers growing non-GM crops
Read more about the issues at ProQuest.
Tags: biotechnology issues, GM crops, molecular biotechnology
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Biotechnology Revolution will Exceed Internet Revolution in its Impact
Wednesday, March 31st, 2010
According to experts, biotechnology will change the shape of things more extensively than what the Internet have done. Biotech companies are already driving economic growth and innovation.
A book titled “The Coming Biotech Age” by Richard Oliver, author of “The Shape of Things to Come” provides an accessible overview of biotechnology business, its implications for all industries and the vast opportunities, according to a review.
The completion of the Human Genome project will increasingly lay bare the genetic basis of various diseases and and physical problems. Biotechnology works with genes and is proving itself capable of finding cures for the diseases and problems, at a more fundamental level than earlier symptoms based treatment.
And working at gene levels can also change the charateristics of organisms, such as crops and animals. Crops that are more pest resistant and higher yielding have already appeared in the market. So have opposition to them on the grounds of suspected health impact. As things develop, their shape can indeed take a very different form.
According to Amazon.com review, the book goes far into the possibilities of altering and creating new “bioterials” and even inoorganic new materials.
The Coming Biotech Age
Tags: biotech business, biotechnology
Posted in biotechnology, business, crop science, diseases, genetic modification, technology commercialization | No Comments »
CropLife International
Sunday, March 28th, 2010
CropLife describes itself as a “global federation representing the plant science industry. On the industry’s behalf, we address international developments in crop protection and agricultural biotechnology.”
The About page of the organization’s website goes on to add: “We promote approaches that enhance sustainable agriculture in the interests of farmers, consumers and the environment. CropLife International aims to provide transparent information to its stakeholders and welcomes open dialogue with parties interested in the future of food and farming.
“We are committed to supporting the safe and responsible use of the industry’s products in order to provide a secure, varied, healthy and affordable diet for consumers.”
Tags: agriculture, biotechnology, crop yield
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