Transcript PLANTS IN THE FUTURE

PLANTS - OUR FUTURE…?
Plants relate to everything around
Take in CO2,
give out O2,
transpire
water to
clouds and
promote
rainfall
FUTURE PRIORITIES
•Production of safe, high-quality, diverse food and feed in sufficient
quantities
•Sustainable agriculture
•Development of plants for the production of renewable resources
and energy
•Increasing competitiveness while maintaining the freedom
of choice of consumers
Scientific and technological progress in biotechnologies for
genetically modified (GM) foods is the most promising tool for
addressing these new priorities.
Scientists are taking genes from one species
and inserting them into entirely different
species, to transplant a desired personality trait
What foods can you create by genetic
modification?
Potatoes
Golden rice
Bananas
An endangered species?
Tomatoes
Soybeans
Wheat
Maize
Foods in European supermarkets are not genetically modified.
GM fruits and vegetables are still quite a long way from
commercial use in the EU.
The adoption of Transgenics, 1996-2006
GM food - the big debate
• Advantages:
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The agricultural process is kinder to the
environment, by using less pesticides, fertilizers and
water.
Gene technology is one of the best solutions to the
problem of world hunger. It can increase production
and lower the cost of food.
Gene modification can boost immunity and develop
inbuilt vaccines for livestock and poultry.
Gene technology can remove lactose, so that
lactose-intolerant people can eat dairy products.
Crops could be grown in areas suffering from
drought and salt.
GM crops are faster and cheaper.
Many vegetarians may fid they are now able to
consume products which have synthetic, rather than
animal-based, origins.
G M Foods are sometimes thought as being more
nutritious, tasting better and they keep longer.
Many people rely on genetically modified foods for
medicines, for example insulin for diabetics.
Proven by research, GM Foods are safe. .
• Disadvantages:
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Most food manafacturers are unable to provide
information on whether or not their products contain
GM ingredients. This means you rarely know what
you are eating.
GM crops can contaminate other crops simply by
pollen being blown by wind from one field to
another.
Sometimes GM crops have allergenic effects.
Loss of nutritional value.
Reduction of the efficiency of antibiotics.
New viruses could evolve from the mass production
of GM crops.
Pests may develop resistance to GM crops that
have been designed to kill them.
Humans do not have the right to genetically alter
nature for their own convienience and profit.
Vegetarians and Vegans may find it offensive to put
animal genes into plants.
Some countries will not be able to afford GM foods.
GM crops may produce ecological side effects
(Monarch butterfiles).
Too much money spent on Gene Technology could
have been spent on other things.
EUROPEAN de facto MORATATORIUM
In June 2003, the EUROPEAN Parliament
ratified a biosafety protocol regulating
international trade in genetically
modified food.
It requires that all food/feed containing
or derived from GMO be labeled
and any GM ingredients in food be traced.
At least 174 regions, over 4500 municipalities
and other local entities and tens of thousands
of farmers and food producers in Europe
have declared themselves "GMO-free"
expressing their commitment not to allow
the use of genetically modified organisms
in the agriculture and food in their territories
DEVELOP OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED PLANTS
FOR TOXIC CLEAN -UP
•Scientists have to develop fast growing grasses, trees
that control the uptake and binding of toxic elements and
to examine individual genes and mechanisms that
might drive phytoremediation.
To following plant characteristics
have to be used in plant engineering for
Phytoremediation:
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activity in rhizosphere;
element uptake;
transformation to most mobile species;
translocation through vascular system;
transformation to best managed
element species;
chemical sinks for toxic element
accumulation;
physical sites for storage
(cytosol, vacuole).
Remediation plant. Genetically modified poplar trees,
which can take up chlorinated solvents, are developed
to remediate polluted sites.
Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP)
The protein is encoded by
a single gene and can be
cloned and incorporated in
cells of other species.
It
possesses
natural
fluorescence allowing direct
visualization
of
the
transformed cells.
Aequorea victoria
Thank you !