Green Biotech is
a collection of
technologies
using plant
organisms and
plant cells for
the production
or
transformation
of food,
biomaterials and
energy.
It covers:
Did you know
that
natural soil
bacteria
were the
first
organisms to achieve
succesful
gene
transfer to
plants ?
Read more!
üOld
uses
of plants, like
the production
of traditional
food and feed,
üNew
uses,
like the
production of
pharmaceuticals
and biofuels,
üOld
practices,
like vegetative
multiplication
and sexual
breeding,
üNew
practices,
like
transferring
single genes
from distantly
related
organisms
to plants.
ü
An introduction to the applications of green biotechnology
Today plant biotechnology encompasses three major areas, plant tissue culture,
plant genetic engineering and plant molecular marker assisted breeding.
Plant tissue culture – A technique that allows whole
plants to be produced from minute amounts of plant parts like the roots, leaves
or stems or even just a single plant cell under laboratory conditions. An advantage
of tissue culture is rapid production of clean planting materials. Examples
of tissue culture products in Kenya include banana, cassava, Irish potato, pyrethrum
and citrus.
Plant genetic engineering – The selective, deliberate
transfer of beneficial gene(s) from one organism to another to create new improved
crops, animals or materials. Examples of genetically engineered crops include
cotton, maize, sweet potato, soy beans etc.
Plant molecular marker assisted breeding – A technique
that uses molecular markers to select for a particular trait of interest such
as yield. A molecular marker is a short sequence of DNA that is tightly linked
to the desirable trait (such as disease resistance) that selection for its presence
ends up selecting for the desirable trait. E.g. maize that is tolerant to drought
and maize streak virus.
Ten Years of Biotech Crop Production
Since the dawn of agriculture 10,000 years ago, almost all of the plants that we
now use for food, feed and other purposes have been very extensively modified
using various hybridization and mutation techniques. Sophisticated plant
breeding programmes resulted in the “Green Revolution”, that in the 1970’s and
80’s intensified agricultural production to such an extent that it contributed
significantly to preventing starvation in many parts of the world...
Plant
biotechnology for a competitive Europe
Plant biotechnology and its many applications are major enablers of growth,
competitiveness and jobs worldwide and will play a key role in moving Europe’s
knowledge based bioeconomy forward.
Ecological impacts of
genetically modified crops: Experiences from ten years of experimental field
research and commercial cultivation
The Swiss Expert Committee for Biosafety SECB advises on issues related to the
protection of people and the environment in the areas of biotechnology and gene
technology. Consequently, the SECB counsels the authorities on permit
applications for field trials and commercial cultivation of genetically modified
(GM) crops and issues statements
on safety aspects of GM crops.
Learn more about agbiotech
Database of pubished
papers and reviews
demonstrating the
benefits and safety
implications
associated with the
use of agricultural
biotechnology
products
A
tutorial of
Agricultural
Biotechnology
has been
developed by the
Institute for
the Acquisition
of Agri-Biotech
Applications (ISAAA),
which we
recommend (click here, and then go to ‘Info Resources’).
It emphasizes
that agbiotech
is not just
about GM
technology but
embraces a broad
range of tools
for the
characterization,
multiplication
and modification
of plants.
Cornell
University
has
dedicated
much
efforts
to
public
education
(see
more).
An
introduction
to plant
biotechnology
has been
published.
Didactic
resources
have
also
been
supplied
by a
team of
academics
from
Colorado
State
University
(see
more).
And for
a
glossary
of
Biotechnology
terms,
click
here
|
