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Food Fray

Arabidopsis thaliana

Arabidopsis thaliana

Arabidopsis thaliana (A-ra-bi-dóp-sis tha-li-á-na; thale cress, mouse-ear cress or Arabidopsis), is a small flowering plant native to Europe, Asia, and northwestern Africa.^[1] A spring annual with a relatively short life cycle, Arabidopsis is popular as a model organism in plant biology and genetics. Its genome is one of the smallest plant genomes and was the first plant genome to be sequenced. Arabidopsis is a popular tool for understanding the molecular biology of many plant traits, including flower development and light sensing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabidopsis_thaliana

Plastic producing plants

Plastic-Producing Plants: The cash crop of the future

November, 2000: Stanford, California

From water bottles to artificial heart valves, plastics are essential to our everyday lives. Plastics are synthetic resins made of large, organic polymers refined from valuable natural fossil fuels (oil, coal, petroleum, or natural gas). Normally, plastics take years to degrade and are a major component of landfill and waste areas. However, Dr. Chris Somerville, director of the Carnegie Institute of Washington’s Department of Plant Biology, and other institute scientists have discovered a method for engineering plants to make plastic that would biodegrade more easily–and not use up natural resources in the production process.

http://www.mhhe.com/biosci/pae/botany/botany_map/articles/article_28.html

Recombinant bacteria and plasmid isolation. (From Stern, Introductory Plant Biology, 8th ed., © 2000, McGraw-Hill Companies.)

Futures in Biotech - Genetically Modified Food

Running time...: 48:04

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February 24th, 2009

Futures in Biotech 39: Food, Genetically Modified

Hosts: Marc Pelletier

Dr. Lisa Weasel discusses the controversies surrounding genetically-modified foods.

Guest: Dr. Lisa Weasel, associate professor of biology at Portland State University in Oregon, a member of Governor Ted Kulongoski's task force on developing public policy for bio-pharmaceutical crops in Oregon, and author of Food Fray: Inside the Controversy over Genetically Modified Foods.

Why isn't there a wide consumer acceptance of genetically modified (GM) foods? If we can design crops that reduce pesticides, grow more effectively in poor soil, bring nutrients such as vitamins A to populations with high incidences of blindness, or even just taste better, why are we hesitating?

GM foods - food fray

the author

Lisa H. Weasel received an A.B. magna cum laude in Biology from Harvard and a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Cambridge. Her research interests are centered on ethics and equity issues relating to the life sciences. Dr. Weasel is currently an Associate Professor of Biology at Portland State University in Oregon.
Click here to visit the author's home page.