ENV100Y5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 27: Soil Conservation, Biological Pest Control, Permaculture
Module 3: June 4-June 15
Date: Saturday, June 9
SESSION 29: AGRICULTURE AND BIOTECHNOLOGY (III)
Readings: Chapter 8
The Green Revolution involved the Development of New Cultivars
● Cultivars = variety of plant that has been intentionally selected for (Selectively bred)
● More plant energy into growth of grain instead of leaves or stem
● Early-maturing - multiple harvests
● More uniform - easier mechanized harvesting
● Better response to fertilizers
● Drought-resistant, pest-resistant
Vit A deficiency: leads to night blindness
● Keratomalacia: Softening of cornea, fall apart, and lead to blindness
● Golden rice with Vitamin A
● A lot of people opposed to project, sees weird to have GMO
Genetic Engineering of Food Crops is Controversial
● “Worrying about starving future generations won’t feed them. Food biotechnology
will...At Monsanto, we now believe food biotechnology is a better way forward.” -
Monsanto company advertisement → withstand herbicide
● “I never put those plants on my land. The question is, where do Monsanto’s rights end
and mine begin.” - Canadian Canola Farmer Percy Schmeiser
GMOs are transgenic
● GMOs are organisms genetically modified
●Transgenic organism contains a gene inserted into its genome from a different
organism to achieve a desired trait
●Recombinant DNA = DNA patched together from the DNA of multiple organisms
Genetic Engineering Differs from Traditional Selective Breeding
● Selective breeding: select phenotypes (indirectly selects for certain alleles)
● Works with natural genetic variation
● Splicing genes - splice out DNA and insert into plant, ex. BT corn kills caterpillars that
feed on it → produces its own insecticide from within, better
● E.g. a gene that prevents rotting in beans might be spliced into tomatoes
● Tomato looks and tastes like an unaltered tomato, but is resistant to rotting
● GMOs are engineered for pest resistance, herbicide resistance, delayed ripening, better
storage, etc.
● Higher yield, less waste, more nutritious, etc.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
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Document Summary
The green revolution involved the development of new cultivars. Cultivars = variety of plant that has been intentionally selected for (selectively bred) More plant energy into growth of grain instead of leaves or stem. Keratomalacia: softening of cornea, fall apart, and lead to blindness. A lot of people opposed to project, sees weird to have gmo. Worrying about starving future generations won"t feed them. Food biotechnology willat monsanto, we now believe food biotechnology is a better way forward. - I never put those plants on my land. The question is, where do monsanto"s rights end and mine begin. - canadian canola farmer percy schmeiser. Transgenic organism contains a gene inserted into its genome from a different organism to achieve a desired trait. Recombinant dna = dna patched together from the dna of multiple organisms. Selective breeding: select phenotypes (indirectly selects for certain alleles) Splicing genes - splice out dna and insert into plant, ex.
