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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 GMOís to prevent
the mixture of crops until the GMOís 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's. 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 GMOís 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.
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