Background Information About Seeds

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Background Information
For more than 10,000 years, farmers have been experimenting with plants to find the best seeds to grow plentiful crops. In the mid 19th century, Gregor Mendel, an Austrian monk, began scientific experiments to produce a better pea.
This “new” science of plant breeding allowed scientists not only to grow more plentiful crops but also to create plants that resistinsects, disease, and drought. However, since success depended on locating a desirable plant trait and breeding it over a number of years until the ideal plant species was created, this method was very labor intensive and required long periods of time.
Over the past 20 years, biotechnology has dramatically changed methods of plant breeding. Today, biotechnology allows scientists to move specific genesfrom one species to another to produce changes. It also makes conventional plant breeding more efficient by allowing scientists to select and transfer only genes for desired traits. Plants created using biotechnology are generally referred to as genetically modified (GM) or transgenic plants.
Perhaps the best-known example of a GM plant is golden rice. Created through the efforts of IngoPotrykus, a professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, this crop was genetically modified to contain beta-carotene (or vitamin A). This vitamin improves the rice’s nutritional value and could improve the lives of millions of people for whom this is a primary food. It was Potrykus’s dream that this enriched golden rice (so-called because of its pale yellow color) would feed hungrychildren all over the world. Since rice does not naturally contain beta-carotene, Potrykus needed to find a way to change the genetic makeup of normal rice. He and his colleagues introduced genes from daffodils and a bacteria into the genetic code of normal rice. They also “infected” white rice with another bacteria for beta-carotene. This new transgenic rice plant could then be bred with rice thatgrew well in different climates.
In addition to golden rice, other crops have been produced through biotechnology. These include cotton that has the ability to fight off boll weevils and corn and papaya that resist viruses.
Potrykus’s dream of feeding millions with genetically modified crops is now a reality. Over 60% of foods sold in the United States today contain GM food ingredients. Inmany developing nations GM foods are improving the nutritional content of what people eat. The benefits are obvious. Before genetic modification, in experiments to produce new plants, scientists used either radiation or powerful chemicals on plants to produce genetic changes. Transgenic technology does not require this dangerous practice, thereby making the GM foods that we eat safer. Farmers whogrow plants that have a genetic resistance to insects and disease do not need to use pesticides, which is good for the environment. Additionally, the technology needed to genetically engineer crops also requires little equipment. This means that farmers in developing nations, who are often unable to afford pesticides or expensive farming equipment, can produce and use genetic modification. Finally,transgenic crops can improve the nutritional value of foods, such as rice and corn, which are very important in the diets of people throughout the world. This means that a bowl of golden rice could prevent children in Southeast Asia from getting an eye disease caused by insufficient vitamin A. Similarly, a tortilla made from GM corn could satisfy the daily nutritional needs of a child in CentralAmerica, even if fruits, vegetables, or meat were not available. The world’s population is growing, but the amount of land available to grow food is not. Genetic crop engineering might be an important way to improve global health and feed the world’s population by enabling farmers to produce more food more efficiently.
However, GM foods have also been called “Frankenfoods” (after the fictional...