Genetic Modification

1. Felicia Loo / Feb 5 2011

   

   Edit: Further reading, for your interest…

   Breeding for micronutrients in staple food crops from a human nutrition perspective
   http://jxb.oxfordjournals.org/content/55/396/353.full.pdf+html

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   • Vanessa Watkins / Feb 20 2011

     

     Reading for Feb. 23

     It is a bit long so please read

     Abstract and Introduction

     The serious problem of micronutrient malnutrition in developing countries (first paragraph only)

     Will breeding for micronutrient-dense seeds change the processing or consumer characteristics of staple foods?

     Will micronutrient intakes be increased to a significant degree? ( quick skim only)

     What are the costs and benefits of a biofortification strategy? how do these compare with supplementation and fortification? ( quick skim only)

     and Conclusion

     Plant Breeding: A New Tool for Fighting Micronutrient Malnutrition
     http://jn.nutrition.org/content/132/3/491S.full?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=50&RESULTFORMAT=1&andorexacttitle=and&andorexacttitleabs=and&fulltext=biofortification&andorexactfulltext=and&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=match&fdate=1/1/2001&resourcetype=HWCIT

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     • Vanessa Watkins / Feb 22 2011

       

       this is the only required reading for Wednesdays class.

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   • Felicia Loo / Feb 22 2011

     

     Please read Vanessa article. This is for interest only.

     http://jxb.oxfordjournals.org/content/55/396/353.full.pdf+html

     Reply
2. Vanessa Watkins / Feb 20 2011

   

   For the reading I missed one paragraph.
   Please also read the first paragraph of

   Structure of the symposium presentations

   Reply
3. Eunice / Feb 23 2011

   

   Hi All

   I was interested about whether or not the orange sweet potato mentioned in today’s class on Biofortification used genetic engineering involving recombinant DNA technology (GMOs), so tried to dig up some literature on this.

   The following article on “Evaluating Sweet Potato as an Intervention Food to Prevent Vitamin A Deficiency” (by B J Burri) is an interesting review on this topic

   http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1541-4337.2010.00146.x/pdf

   Information in this review article as well as on the HarvestPlus website (http://www.harvestplus.org/content/orange-sweet-potato-faces-bright-future-africa-0) indicates that the Orange Sweet Potato being used in intervention trials in Africa are “conventionally bred” 🙂

   Eunice

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   • Vanessa / Mar 1 2011

     

     Yes, the sweet potato’s nutritional aspects are “conventionally bred” as sweet potato already contains Provitamin A is within its genetics. So, it is bread to contain a higher concentration than previous crops through controlled breading. But Sweet Potato is still considered a GMO food as it does have agronomic traits of Virus resistance and drought tolerance. It was one of the first crops termed biofortified produced through Harvest Plus.

     Reply
4. felicialoo / Mar 3 2011

   

   Link for our own plasmid- https://blogs.ubc.ca/felicialoo/2011/03/03/gm-crop_-our-own-crop/

   My idea of creating own plasmid is for all of us to understand that genetic modification often incorporate our ideal characteristic for plant.

   If I could do it, I would modify a cassava plant to have higher and more complete protein as well as sufficient iron and vitamin A with resistant to weather changes- means resistant to drought and can be stored for long period of time with higher crop production to produce sufficient food for those who need it.
   I would love to see if you have other opinion.

   Reply

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