Saturday, May 15, 2010

Genetic engineering?

i need topics on them for research report. 5 to be exact. an example is like golden rice. i want some examples of genetic engineering foods. like a lime and a kumquat makes a limequat.

Genetic engineering?
Man has been engineering plants (and animals) for ages. The only difference is, it's been done through selection and with something like field corn, crossbreeding highly inbred lines. Bt corn is a good example of a genetically modified plant. The Bt gene tells the plant to produce toxins poisonous to corn borers. Other strains of corn, canola and soybeans are Roundup herbicide resistant. I believe that gene came from a soil microbe. The Agriculture Research Service USDA was working on taking a heat and drought resistant gene from bell peppers and putting it into cucumbers. They've also crossed a honeydew with a netted cantalope to make a orange fleshed melon with a smooth skin to reduce the opportunities for bacteria to hide in the ordinary rough skin. Golden (yellow) Delicious Apples orginated as a sport. A single limb on a Red Delicious apple bore yellow apples, Stark Bros. bought the rights to the tree. Orlando tangelos are a cross between an orange, tangerene and grapefruit while other tangelos are a cross of orange and tangerene only. Most tomatoes found in the store are GM to make them ship better and color up better. Other varieties have been engineered to do well when grown hydroponically. Triticale is the cross of wheat and rye and started the "Green Revolution" decades ago as an attempt to reduce famine in other countries. Brangus cattle are the cross of two different species, boz indicus (brahma) and boz taurus (Angus in this case). Of course we all know what a mule is, but we don't eat them in this country.
Reply:God invented Google and Wikipedia for a reason. That reason: to help you with your homework/project instead of getting other people to do it for you.


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