Download AG-BAS-02.471-05.4p m-Using_Biotechnology_to_Improve_Life

USING BIOTECHNOLOGY
TO IMPROVE LIFE
AGRISCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY
Modified by Georgia Agricultural Education Curriculum Office
July, 2002
August 2008
WAYS BIOTECHNOLOGY IS
USED IN AGRISCIENCE
• Developing and using new forms of plants
and animals.
• Modifying plants and animals to improve
their life processes.
• Making substances from natural biological
processes.
• Improving the quality and kind of foods.
August 2008
ISSUES THAT CONCERN
PEOPLE ABOUT THE USE OF
BIOTECHNOLOGY
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Uncertainty
Dangers in new life forms
Keep organisms “natural”
Unhealthy food
Harm to handlers
Labeling
Ethics of joining plants and animals
Lack of information
August 2008
MAJOR LEVELS OF
BIOTECHNOLOGY
• ORGANISMIC LEVEL - Deals with intact
or complete organisms; involves helping
them live and grow better.
• MOLECULAR LEVEL - Involves changing
the structure and parts of cells. Often
studied by molecular biologists.
August 2008
CLONING
• Cloning is a process
of asexually
reproducing
organisms.
• Three examples are
plant tissue culture,
embryo splitting, and
apomixis.
August 2008
GREATER FERTILITY
• SUPEROVULATION - Injecting a cow with
a hormone, such as gonadotropin, the cow
may release 8-20 eggs during estrus
instead of one egg.
• EMBYRO TRANSFER - Involves
removing an embryo from its mother and
placing it in another female to develop.
Embryos are transferred seven days after
fertilization.
August 2008
MORE PRODUCTION
• Milk Hormones - BST can be given to
cows to increase the amount of milk they
produce.
• Meat Hormones - Using PST causes
hogs to produce more more muscle.
• Growth Implants - Placing a small pellet
under the skin of animals to promote
growth.
August 2008
AQUACULTURE
• SPAWNING - Process of
female fish producing
eggs that are fertilized
with sperm from male
fish. Aquafarmers induce
spawning by injecting the
female fish with
gonadotropin.
• HATCHING - Artificially
hatching eggs involves
regulating water
movement, temperature
and oxygen level.
August 2008
AQUACULTURE
CONT.
• NURSERY MANAGEMENT - Caring for the fry
(newly-hatched fish) involves feeding the proper
food, preventing disease, maintaining oxygen
level and water temperature and removing
waste materials.
• SEX CHANGES - Some species do not grow
well when males and females are left together; a
newly developed way of changing the sex of
newly-hatched fry.
August 2008
ULTRASONICS
• PRODUCT QUALITY - Ultrasound can be used
to determine the amount of fat and muscle on
cattle and other animals.
• PREGNANCY ASSESSMENT - Ultrasound is
used to determine the development of an
embryo/fetus in a pregnant female.
• LOCATE FISH - Sonar device is used to locate
presence of fish in water.
August 2008
MARKETING STRATEGIES
• Food products are produced in different
shapes and forms to encourage people to
buy them.
• Miniature vegetables; baby corn and
carrots.
• The round carrot can be sold for a higher
price; the nutritional value is the same.
August 2008
ANIMAL NUTRITION AND
FEEDS
• AMMONIATING HAY Treating low quality hay
with ammonia increased the
protein content of hay and
increased the digestibility.
• DIGESTIBILITY TESTING Feed is taken from or put
into the digestive system
through the fistula placed
on an animal to study feed
samples.
August 2008
ANIMAL NUTRITION
CONT.
• CONTROLLED
FEEDING - Cattle are
sometimes fitted with
sensors that allow the
animal to eat only
feed prepared for it.
August 2008
PREDICTING THE FUTURE
• PLANT GROWTH CHAMBERS - Used to study
the effects of changes in the environment on
plants.
• COMPUTER SIMULATIONS - Examples of
simulations include cropping models and
erosion.
• OTHER EXAMPLES - Using growth regulators,
forcing plants, using wastes as feed.
August 2008
GENETICS
• Genetics is concerned with the traits parents
pass to their offspring.
• The difference between animals within the same
species is called variability.
• Traits that always show up in the offspring if they
are present are said to be dominant; traits that
can be covered up by other traits are recessive.
Dominant trait in cattle is polled cattle.
Recessive is red cattle.
August 2008
DOUBLE HELIX
• Two strands of DNA are twisted around forming
a spiral structure.
• Because of this structure, segments of DNA can
be cut out and new ones inserted.
• The information in an organism that causes it to
function is its genetic code.
• Mutations are changes in the genes and
chromosomes; can be genetic and physical
differences. Larger fruits is an example.
August 2008
STEPS OF MITOSIS
• Prophase - Involves the development of
chromosomes and replication of DNA.
• Metaphase - Chromosomes move to the middle
of the cell.
• Anaphase - Chromosomes separate and move
to opposite sides of the cell.
• Telophase - The nucleus forms and a
membrane appears between each mass of
chromosomes.
August 2008
GENETIC ENGINEERING
• The genetic information in the cell is
changed or used to make a product.
Sections of DNA molecules may be cut out
and new sections inserted.
• DNA of two different organisms may be
combined.
• E.coli bacteria are most often used as
carriers of new DNA (vectors) into the cell.
August 2008
WAYS GENETIC ENGINEERING
BENEFITS AGRISCIENCE
• Herbicide-Resistant
Plants
• Insect-Resistant
Plants
• Disease- Resistant
Plants
• Transgenic Animals
August 2008
• Frost Protection
• Longer Storage Life
• New Animal
Products