Biotechnology and Bioinformatics (1+1)

1.1.3.1. Agricultural biotechnology

Agricultural biotechnology is dated back to 10,000 BC when farmers began to select the most suitable plants and animals for breeding. Soon thereafter, Sumerians used yeast, a type of fungus, to make beer and wine in Mesopotamia. In the 1860s, Gregor Mendel crossed different pea plants and identified the principles of inheritance and marked the beginning of conventional biotechnology. Major advances in plant breeding followed the revelation of Mendel’s discovery. Breeders brought their new understanding of gene tics to the traditional techniques of self-pollinating and cross-pollinating plants.

Recognising desirable traits and incorporating them into future generations is very important in plant breeding. A few of these traits can arise spontaneously through a process called mutation, but the natural rate of mutation is very slow and unreliable to produce all plants that breeders are looking for. In the late 1920s it was discovered that exposing plants to x-rays and chemicals could increase the rate of genetic variation, thereby increasing the pool of characteristics that breeders and farmers could choose from when looking for beneficial features for crop breeding. Examples of plants that were produced via mutation breeding include varieties of wheat, barley, rice, potatoes, soybeans and onions.

Experts in United States anticipate the world’s population in 2050 to be approximately 8.7 billion persons. The world’s population is growing, but its surface area is not. By increasing crop yields, through theuse of biotechnology the constant need to clear more land for growing food is reduced.

Countries in Asia, Africa, and elsewhere are grappling with how to continue feeding a growing population.They are also trying to benefit more from their existing resources.Biotechnology holds the key to increasing the yield of staple crops by allowing farmers to reap bigger harvests from currently cultivated land, whilepreserving the land’s ability to support continued farming.

Malnutrition in underdeveloped countries is also being combated with biotechnology. The Rockefeller Foundation is sponsoring research on “golden rice”, a crop designed to improve nutrition in the developing world. Rice breeders are using biotechnology to build Vitamin A into the rice. Vitamin A deficiency is a common problem in poor countries. A second phase of theproject will increase the iron content in rice to combat anemia, which is a widespread problem among women and children in underdeveloped countries.

Similar initiatives using gene tic manipulation are aimed atmaking crops more productive by reducing their dependence on pesticides, fertilizers and irrigation, or by increasing their resistance to plant diseases. Increased crop yield, greater flexibility in growing environments, less use of chemical pesticides and improved nutritional content make agricultural biotechnology, quite literally, the future of the world’s foodsupply.

The plant biotechnology has following applications:

1. Plant Cell and Tissue Culture .

2. Production of pesticide, herbicide and salt tolerant plants. For example, an “insect protection” gene (Bt) has been inserted into several crops - corn, cotton, and potatoes - to give farmers new tools for integrated pest management. Bt corn is resistant to European corn borer. This inherent resistance thus reduces a farmers pesticide use for controlling European corn borer, and in turn requires less chemicals and potentially provides higher yielding Agricultural Biotechnology.