biotech in agriculture

• Applications of Biotechnology in Agriculture include the development of transgenic crops
• transgenic crops - the placement of genes into plants to give the crop a beneficial trait.
• bt corn - first genetically modified with the insertion of toxin gene from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis.
• When the Bt Corn was commercialized, an increase in production was realized because of its resistance to the attack of the corn borer.
• bt cotton - was created to be resistant to boll worms.
• GM potatoes - developed to resist insect pests and disease.
• Golden rice - is the genetically modified rice containing beta carotene, a precursor of vitamin A.
• Golden rice was genetically modified to produce almost 20 times the beta-carotene of previous varieties.
• Golden rice was created by modifying the rice genome to include a gene from the daffodil Narcissus pseudonarcissus that produces an enzyme known as phytoene synthase and a gene from the bacterium Erwiniauredovora that produces an enzyme called phyotenedesaturase.
• Sugar Beets - were engineered to grow faster and to be more resistant to weeds.
• GM canola - is used mostly to make cooking oil and margarine. Most GM canola is resistant to herbicides and helps farmers to more easily control weeds in their fields.
• GM alfalfa - is primarily used to feed cattle—mostly dairy cows. Most GM alfalfa are resistant to herbicides, allowing farmers to spray the crops to protect them against destructive weeds.
• GM papaya lines - were developed to resist infection by the papaya ring spot virus.
• GM peas - were created by inserting kidney beans genes into the peas DNA resulting in the production of a protein with pesticidal ability.
• FlavrSavr - is the first commercially grown GM tomato granted with a license for human consumption.
• GM crops - are made through a process known as genetic engineering.
• There is a primary method : gene gun
• The DNA to be introduced into the plant cells is coated into tiny particles of gold or tungsten. These particles are then physically shot onto plant cells and incorporated into the genomic DNA of the recipient plant.