The genetic engineering of drought resistant crops

But there are also fears about adverse social implications—for instance, that GM technology could undermine traditional knowledge systems in developing countries—and the monopolization of seed markets and exploitation of small farmers.

This means that farmers could spray these crops with herbicide and kill the weeds, without affecting the crop. Wheat [9] Genetic modifications of the wheat plant focused on particular parts of the plant, such as the root systems, and processes, such as transpiration, that can increase water use efficiency by the plant.

This is contrary to the prediction of critics who, prior to the commercialization of the technology inprematurely declared that biotech crops were only for industrial countries and would never be accepted and adopted by developing countries. Several new developing countries are expected to plant biotech crops before led by Asia, and there is cautious optimism that Africa will be well-represented: For example, the European Union has not yet approved some of the GM corn technologies used in the United States and Argentina, which obstructs trade not only in technologies but also in commodity and food markets.

There is some comfort in the fact that global rice and wheat supplies were relatively plentiful in and the hope is that they will preclude a broad escalation of commodity prices as was the case in mid The first plant produced in that way came inan antibiotic-resistant tobacco plant.

Maize has the most number of approved events events in 23 countriesfollowed by cotton 48 events in 19 countriespotato 31 events in 10 countriescanola 30 events in 12 countries and soybean 22 events in 24 countries. Genes Genetic Engineering The name for certain methods used to introduce new traits or characteristics to an organism typically involving the use of recombinant DNA methods.

Observers are cautiously optimistic about the future with more modest annual gains predicted because of the already high rate of adoption in all the principal crops in mature markets in both developing and industrial countries.

Not only are small farms more productive in producing food than large farms, but also they are better at introducing sustainable practices than large industrial farms.

A major difficulty will be to get the multinational companies for whom increased profit is their main goal to work with governments and academic researchers to ensure that the future of food production benefits humankind and that we are not tied low diversity genetically modified crops.

Insects, birds and wind might carry genetically altered pollen to other fields and forests, pollinating plants and randomly creating new species that would carry on the genetic modifications.

Instead, we aim to change the culture in which genetically modified crops are created and used in agriculture. Such patenting and commercialization, along with cross contamination, can create problems when it comes to selling seed to farmers.

F Adequate research has not yet been carried out to identify the effects of eating animals that have been fed genetically engineered grain, nor have sufficient studies been conducted on the effects of directly consuming genetically engineered crops like corn and soy.

The second concern is that new allergies might be created, since new combinations of genes and traits have the potential to cause allergic reactions that have never existed before.

For example, soybean farmers in Argentina or cotton farmers in China and India capture over 70 percent of the overall GM technology benefits. GE proponents claim genetically engineered crops use fewer pesticides than non-GE crops, when in reality GE plants can require even more chemicals.

Often, the regulators are extremely cautious and require extended regulatory trials over many years. Each cell contains a nucleus, and inside each nucleus are strings of molecules called DNA deoxyribonucleic acid.

F Terminator seeds Some GE seeds are engineered so that plants cannot reproduce their seeds. Educating farmers on what genetically modified crops look like, and teaching them measures with which they can prevent their land from being contaminated by unwanted genetically modified crops can also be an important tool in lessening cross contamination.

A fast track approval system allows Brazil to approve events in a timely manner. The Bt gene renders the cotton resistant to the heliothis caterpillar, a major threat to the cotton industry. Genetic Engineering Drought Tolerant Plants: Although not a crop plant, Arabidopsis has played a vital role in the understanding of the basic processes underlying stress tolerance, and the knowledge obtained has been trans­ferred to a certain degree to important food plants.

Genetically modified crops (GMCs, GM crops, or biotech crops) are plants used in agriculture, the DNA of which has been modified using genetic engineering methods. In most cases, the aim is to introduce a new trait to the plant which does not occur naturally in the species.

ISAAA Brief Executive Summary Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: Biotech Crop hectares increased by an unprecedented fold.

Drought resistance (DR) being a complex traits triggers a wide array of physiological responses in plants thus affecting the activity of various genes. Alessandro Pellegrineschi explores the scientific prospects for developing crops that are resistant to drought, and says that sceptics of GM technology must be won over to prevent future tragedies.

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The genetic engineering of drought resistant crops