Biotechnology A Solution to World Famine

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BiotechnologyA Solution to World Famine?
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Plant Biology 101

• What is plant biotechnology?
• Products on the market
• Benefits of biotechnology
• Safety and regulation
• Get involved

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Definition?

• In its simplest form, plant biotechnology is the
  commercial application of living organisms or
  their products, which involves the deliberate
  manipulation of their DNA molecules into more
  useful and beneficial plants. (Principles of
  Biotechnology)

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What Is Plant Biotechnology?

• Every living thing contains a genetic "blueprint"
  or set of instructions to determine specific
  characteristics. In plants, this blueprint helps
  determine a food's specific traits, including
  color, taste and texture. (Biotechnology
  Information)

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What Is Plant Biotechnology?A Little History

• For hundreds of years, humans have improved
  plants by breeding for certain traits. Even the
  ancient Egyptians and early American Indians
  selected and sowed the seeds from plants with
  desired characteristics, to obtain the best
  results.
• This process was time consuming and very
  expensive and yielded uncertain results.
• (Singh)

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What Is Plant Biotechnology?
A Little History

• Understanding how traits are passed from one
  generation to the next took a giant leap forward
  in the mid-1800s with Gregor Johann Mendel, whos
  known as the father of modern genetics. He
  conducted his work in a monastery in
  Austria.(Principles of Biotechnology)

Gregor Johann Mendel
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What Is Plant Biotechnology?

• Plant biotechnology is just a much more precise
  tool than selective breeding or crossbreeding.
  (Biotechnology Information)

Plant biotechnology Using plant biotechnology, a
single gene may be added to the strand.
Traditional plant breeding
VS.
DNA is a strand of genes, much like a strand of
pearls. Traditional plant breeding combines many
genes at once.
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Products on the Market

• More than 50 biotech food products have been
  approved for commercial use in the united states
  (Pusztazi)
• Soybeans
• Corn/sweet corn
• Squash
• Papaya
• Potato

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On Products

• Did you know?
• Two-thirds of all foods on U.S. Supermarket
  shelves today are genetically engineered or
  contain genetically engineered ingredients.
• (Pusztai)

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Benefits of Biotechnology

• It allows farmers to
• Grow MORE food
• Better QUALITY food
• In ways that are SAFE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

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How Are Biotechnological Plants Different?

• Crops have been enhanced to be

Herbicide resistant like biotech soybeans.
These plants are designed to withstand glyphosate
herbicides, which kill nearby weeds but do not
harm the enhanced soybeans.(Singh)
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How Are Biotechnological Plants Different?

• Crops have been enhanced to be

Pest resistant like Bt corn. These plants are
enhanced with a naturally occurring soil protein,
bacillus thuringiensis, that wards off insect
pests such as the European Corn Borer.(Singh)
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How Are Biotechnological Plants Different?

• Virus resistant like a new biotech papaya grown
  in Hawaii. These plants are armed with a gene
  that makes the plants resistant to the Papaya
  Ringspot Virus similar to the way a vaccine
  makes people immune to disease. (Singh)

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Safety and Regulation

• Perhaps the most important thing to remember is
  that since the first genetically enhanced food
  product came on the market there has not been a
  single report that would lead an expert food
  scientist to question the safety of such
  transgenic crops now in use, says Bruce Chassy,
  a professor of food microbiology at the
  university of Illinois.
• Genetically enhanced foods have undergone years
  of rigorous scientific, laboratory and in-field
  reviews to make sure they are safe for humans,
  animals and the environment.(Borlaug)

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Safety and Regulation

• The FDA has determined that every biotech crop on
  the market today is substantially equivalent,
  and, therefore, as safe as its traditional
  counterpart.(Pusztai)

The College supports the use of biotechnology to
develop food crops that contribute to global
food security and enhance the safety and
nutritional value of the food supply.
American College of Nutrition Statement on Crop
Biotechnology
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Safety and Regulation

• Indeed, the use of more precise technology and
  the greater regulatory scrutiny probably make
  them biotech foods even safer than conventional
  plants and foods.
• European commission research report

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Plant Biotechnology Represents the Next Leap
Forward

• India approved the planting of biotech cotton
  because its leaders recognize how it can improve
  farmers earnings and reduce spraying.
• The U.N. Human development report called GMOs a
  breakthrough technology for developing
  countries.
• International society of African scientists
  called biotech a major opportunity to enhance
  the production of food crops.(Borlaug)

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If Its Good Enough for Julia Child

• If it gives us a better tomato, Im for it!
• --Julia Child

Famous Television Chef
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Conclusion

• Biotechnology offers the world a new way to grow
  food that is resistant to bugs, viruses, and weed
  sprays. This is the magic bean that allows us
  to produce significantly larger amounts of better
  quality food for the growing population without
  harming ourselves or the environment.
  Biotechnology is the answer to eliminating world
  famine.

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Get Involved in Eliminating World Hunger!

• Combat World Hunger
• http//www.thehungersite.com
• Fast for a World Harvest Campaign
• http//www.oxfamamerica.org/advocacy/art890.html
  
• Whys Community-based Solutions
• http//www.worldhungeryear.org/support/corporate.
  asp

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Works Cited
Return to Slide

• Borlaug, Norman. Biotechnology and the Green
  Revolution. November 2002. Action Bioscience. 28
  March 2003.
• http//www.actionbioscience.org/biotech/borlaug.h
  tml
• Biotechnology Information. January 2003.
  Council For Biotechnology Information. 29 March
  2003. http//www.whybiotech.com.
• Singh, R.B. World Agriculture and
  Biotechnology. 28 March 2003. Pg.1-68.http//apec
  .biotec.or.th/pdf/DrRamBadanSingh.pdf.
• Pusztai, Arpad. Genetically Modified FoodsAre
  They a Risk to Human/Animal Health? Action
  Bioscience. 28 March 2003. http//www.actionbiosci
  ence.org/biotech/pusztai.html.
• Principles of Biotechnology. November 1994.
  National Agricultural Library. 1 April 2003.
• http//www.nal.usda.gov/bic/Education_res/iastate
  .info/bio1.html.