Plant Resistant To The Herbicidal Chemical example essay topic

As we enter the 21st century, the world faces problems with feeding the increasing population. The need for agricultural food commodities increases along with concerns about being environmentally friendly. Agricultural lands will be forced to become more productive or move into previously wild areas. Most people favor keeping wild areas free from agricultural or human influence. The most realistic alternative is to make the current farmlands more productive. One method of doing this is to incorporate herbicide resistant biotechnological crops into agricultural food commodity systems.

The use of herbicide resistant crops would allow farmers to produce a higher quality crop with less input of labor and chemicals. There are several stages in bringing a biotechnological crop from the lab to the market. These cops must also gain approval from government regulations and address consumer safety concerns. A system must be determined to be of great demand in the market to continue the process. There are high costs associated with bringing a biotech crop to the market and the crop must be able to recover the research and testing costs in order to be successful. The first step in creating a biotech crop is to begin looking for a desired trait to incorporate into a plant genome.

This includes finding a gene that makes a plant resistant to the herbicidal chemical glyphosate. Glyphosate is the active ingredient in the Monsanto contact herbicide, Roundup. A plant must be found that is resistant to the chemical and the gene must be isolated. The gene is then inserted into the desired host plant genome.

This may be accomplished through the use of Agrobacterium or a gene gun. The plant now has the gene that makes it tolerant to the over-the-top application of glyphosate containing herbicide. The product then moves into field-testing where the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) must regulate the field-testing of the genetically modified organism. After the field-testing, the plant must move into the product registration process and government agency safety tests. Several government agencies govern areas of biotech crops. The Food and Drug Administration governs the safety and labeling of food in this country.

The need for approval from other countries similar agencies will be necessary in the future to increase the market value of the crop. One method of safety in the future is the use of an ELISA (Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay) test to quickly classify GMO " is to prevent the mixture of crops until the GMO " is become more widely accepted. The ELISA test is faster and more effective than standard PCR mapping. The Environmental Protection Agency must also be involved with approving any GMO with herbicidal or pesticide properties. A glyphosate tolerant crop would fall into this category causing the need for EPA registration. The process then moves to the product registration process.

It is important to have a trademarked name, which allows the crop to be associated with a highly recognized name. A Plant Variety Protection patent is then issued for the seed to protect the research investment. This will prohibit the saving of seed for replanting the next year. These registration process lawyers for the company must be sure they have addressed any possible loopholes to protect the research investment. A product completing the above process still faces public concerns.

There are many who fear that herbicidal resistant crops may breed with similar wild species releasing the tolerance gene into wild populations. This would be a problem but farmers have been coping with herbicidal resistance since the use of herbicidal chemical began in the 1940'is. Producers must be educated on the proper use of herbicides to prevent pesticide resistance from occurring. The final pitfall of any GMO crop is the need of public acceptance.

Research must continue to prove the safety of GMO " is to the public. People of the world must realize that as the population continues to grow, the methods of production must change and they must be willing to change along with it.