Transgenic Rice Plants Essay -- essays research papers

For centuries, sieve has beenone of the most beta staple crops for the serviceman and it now currently feedsto a greater extent than two cardinal people, mostly living in underdeveloped countries. Riceis the major food source of Japan and China and it enjoys a long history ofuse in both cultures. In 1994, global rice production peaked at 530 millionmetric tons. Yet, more than 200 million tons of rice are lost all(prenominal) year tobiotic stresses such as disease and dirt ball infestation. This uttermost(a) lossof crop is estimated to cost at least several billion dollars per year andheavy losses often leave third world countries desperate for their staple food.Therefore, measures must be taken to decrease the follow of crop loss andincrease yields that could be used to feed the populations of the world. onenessmethod to increase rice crop yields is the institution of transgenic rice jellsthat testify insect resistance genes. The two major ways to accomplish insectres istance in rice are the introduction of the white potato proteinase inhibitorII gene or the introduction of the Bacillus thuringiensis toxin gene into theplants genome. some other experimental methods of instituting insect resistanceinclude the use of the arcelin gene, the snowdrop lectin/GNA (galanthus nivallisagglutinin) protein, and bast fiber specific promoters and finally the SBTI gene.The introduction of the potato proteinase inhibitor II gene, or PINII,marks the first time that useful genes were successfully transferred from adicotyledonus plant to a monocotyledonous plant. Whenever the plant is woundedby insects, the PINII gene produces a protein that interferes with the insectsdigestive processes. These protein inhibitors can be detrimental to the growthand development of a wide range of insects that attack rice plants and resultin insects eating less of the plant material. Proteinase inhibitors are ofparticular interest because they are part of the rice plants natural defensesystem against insects. They are as well beneficial because they are inactivatedby cooking and therefore pose no environmental or health hazards to the humanconsumption of PINII treated rice. In order to produce fertile transgenicrice plants, plasmid pTW was used, coupled with the freeze 2 promoter and theinserted rice actin intron, act 1. The combi... ... SBTI gene is beingness cloned into vectors and is being used totransform other types of embryos development the particle gun technique. Inconclusion, through the use of new technologies such as the introduction ofpotato proteinase inhibitor II gene, the establishment of the Bacillus thuringiensistoxin gene and the experimental methods of using the arcelin gene, the snowdroplectin/GNA (galanthus nivallis agglutinin) protein, and phloem specific promotersand finally the SBTI gene, rice plants have fail almost completely resistantto insects that used to destroy much of the crop. This has been an importantstep in biotechn ology because the improvement of rice plants is a major concernthat could potentially effect almost all of the populations of the world. Biotechnology has give-up the ghost an increasingly accepted method of solving some ofthe major problems in agriculture, medicine, and industry. Potentially, withthe advancements of umpteen techniques, almost whenever people eat, drink, takemedicine, or go to work, they entrust be touched in some way by the many complicatedprocesses of biotechnology, that are striving to make our world a purify place to exist in.