Agricultural

biotechnology

Agricultural biotechnology, also known as

agritech, is an area of agricultural science
involving the use of scientific tools and
techniques, including genetic engineering,
molecular markers, molecular diagnostics,
vaccines, and tissue culture, to modify
living organisms: plants, animals, and
microorganisms.[1] Crop biotechnology is
one aspect of agricultural biotechnology
which has been greatly developed upon in
recent times. Desired trait are exported
from a particular species of Crop to an
entirely different species. These transgene
crops possess desirable characteristics in
terms of flavor, color of flowers, growth
rate, size of harvested products and
resistance to diseases and pests.

History
Farmers have manipulated plants and
animals through selective breeding for
tens of thousands of years in order to
create desired traits. In the 20th century, a
surge in technology resulted in an increase
in agricultural biotechnology through the
selection of traits like increased yield, pest
resistance, drought resistance, and
herbicide resistance. The first food
product produced through biotechnology
was sold in 1990, and by 2003, 7 million
farmers were utilizing biotech crops. More
than 85% of these farmers were located in
developing countries.[2]

Crop modification techniques

Traditional breeding

Traditional crossbreeding[3] has been used

for centuries to improve crop quality and
quantity. Crossbreeding mates two
sexually compatible species to create a
new variety with the desired traits of the
parents. For example, the honeycrisp apple
exhibits a specific texture and flavor due to
the crossbreeding of its parents. In
traditional practices, pollen from one plant
is placed on the female part of another,
which leads to a hybrid that contains
genetic information from both parent
plants. Plant breeders select the plants
with the traits they're looking to pass on
and continue to breed those plants. Note
that crossbreeding can only be utilized
within the same or closely related species.
Mutagenesis

Mutations can occur randomly in the DNA

of any organism. In order to create variety
within crops, scientists can randomly
induce mutations within plants.
Mutagenesis uses radioactivity to induce
random mutations in the hopes of
stumbling upon the desired trait. Scientists
can use mutating chemicals such as ethyl
methanesulfonate, or radioactivity to
create random mutations within the DNA.
Atomic gardens are used to mutate crops.
A radioactive core is located in the center
of a circular garden and raised out of the
ground to radiate the surrounding crops,
generating mutations within a certain
radius. Mutagenesis through radiation was
the process used to produce ruby red
grapefruits.

Polyploidy

Polyploidy can be induced to modify the

number of chromosomes in a crop in order
to influence its fertility or size. Usually,
organisms have two sets of
chromosomes, otherwise known as a
diploidy. However, either naturally or
through the use of chemicals, that number
of chromosomes can change, resulting in
fertility changes or size modification
within the crop. Seedless watermelons are
created in this manner; a 4-set
chromosome watermelon is crossed with
a 2-set chromosome watermelon to create
a sterile (seedless) watermelon with three
sets of chromosomes.

Protoplast fusion

Protoplast fusion is the joining of cells or

cell components to transfer traits between
species. For example, the trait of male
sterility is transferred from radishes to red
cabbages by protoplast fusion. This male
sterility helps plant breeders make hybrid
crops.[4]
RNA interference

RNA interference (RNAIi) is the process in

which a cell's RNA to protein mechanism
is turned down or off in order to suppress
genes. This method of genetic
modification works by interfering with
messenger RNA to stop the synthesis of
proteins, effectively silencing a gene.

Transgenics

Transgenics involves the insertion of one

piece of DNA into another organism's DNA
in order to introduce a new gene(s) into
the original organism. This addition of
genes into an organism's genetic material
creates a new variety with desired traits.
The DNA must be prepared and packaged
in a test tube and then inserted into the
new organism. New genetic information
can be inserted with biolistics. An example
of transgenics is the rainbow papaya,
which is modified with a gene that gives it
resistance to the papaya ringspot virus.

Genome editing

Genome editing is the use of an enzyme

system to modify the DNA directly within
the cell. Genome editing was used to
develop herbicide resistant canola to help
farmers control weeds.

Improved nutritional content

Agricultural biotechnology has been used
to improve the nutritional content of a
variety of crops in an effort to meet the
needs of an increasing population. Genetic
engineering can produce crops with a
higher concentration of vitamins. For
example, golden rice contains three genes
that allow plants to produce compounds
that are converted to vitamin A in the
human body. This nutritionally improved
rice is designed to combat the world's
leading cause of blindness—vitamin A
deficiency. Similarly, the Banana 21
project[5] has worked to improve the
nutrition in bananas to combat
micronutrient deficiencies in Uganda. By
genetically modifying bananas to contain
vitamin A and iron, Banana 21 has helped
foster a solution to micronutrient
deficiencies through the vessel of a staple
food and major starch source in Africa.
Additionally, crops can be engineered to
reduce toxicity or to produce varieties with
removed allergens.

Genes and traits of interest

for crops
Agronomic traits

Insect resistance

One highly sought after trait is insect

resistance. This trait increases a crop's
resistance to bugs and allows for a higher
yield. These genetically engineered crops
can now produce their own Bt (Bacillus
thuringiensis), which contains toxin-
producing proteins that are non-harmful to
humans. Bt corn and cotton are now
commonplace, and cowpeas, sunflower,
soybeans, tomatoes, tobacco, walnut,
sugar cane, and rice are all being studied
in relation to Bt.
Herbicide tolerance

Weeds have proven to be an issue for

farmers for thousands of years; they
compete for soil nutrients, water, and
sunlight and prove deadly to crops.
Biotechnology has offered a solution in the
form of herbicide tolerance. Chemical
herbicides are sprayed directly on plants in
order to kill weeds and therefore
competition, and herbicide resistant crops
have to the opportunity to flourish.

Disease resistance
Often, crops are afflicted by disease
spread through insects (like aphids).
Spreading disease among crop plants is
incredibly difficult to control and was
previously only managed by completely
removing the affected crop. The field of
agricultural biotechnology offers a
solution through genetically engineering
virus resistance. Developing GE disease-
resistant crops now include cassava,
maize, and sweet potato.

Temperature tolerance

Agricultural biotechnology can also

provide a solution for plants in extreme
temperature conditions. In order to
maximize yield and prevent crop death,
genes can be engineered that help to
regulate cold and heat tolerance. For
example, papaya trees have been
genetically modified in order to be more
tolerant of hot and cold conditions.[6] Other
traits include water use efficiency, nitrogen
use efficiency and salt tolerance.

Quality traits

Quality traits include increased nutritional

or dietary value, improved food processing
and storage, or the elimination of toxins
and allergens in crop plants.
Common GMO crops
Currently, only a small number of
genetically modified crops are available for
purchase and consumption in the United
States. The USDA has approved soybeans,
corn, canola, sugar beets, papaya, squash,
alfalfa, cotton, apples, and potatoes.[7]
GMO apples (arctic apples) are non-
browning apples and eliminate the need
for anti-browning treatments, reduce food
waste, and bring out flavor. The production
of Bt cotton has skyrocketed in India, with
10 million hectares planted for the first
time in 2011, resulting in a 50% insecticide
application reduction. In 2014, Indian and
Chinese farmers planted more than 15
million hectares of Bt cotton.[8]

Safety testing and

government regulations
Agricultural biotechnology regulation in
the US falls under three main government
agencies: The Department of Agriculture
(USDA), the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), and the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA). The USDA must
approve the release of any new GMOs, EPA
controls the regulation of insecticide, and
the FDA evaluates the safety of a
particular crop sent to market. On average,
it takes nearly 13 years and $130 million of
research and development for a
genetically modified organism to come to
market. The regulation process takes up to
8 years in the United States.[9] The safety
of GMOs has become a topic of debate
worldwide, but scientific articles are being
conducted to test the safety of consuming
GMOs in addition to the FDA's work. In one
such article, it was concluded that Bt rice
did not adversely affect digestion and did
not induce horizontal gene transfer.[10]

References
1. "What is Agricultural Biotechnology?"
(PDF). Cornell University. Retrieved
3 February 2015.
2. "Agricultural Biotechnology" (PDF).
cornell.edu. PBS, ABSP II, US Agency
for International Development. 2004.
Retrieved 1 Dec 2016.
3. "Infographic: Crop Modification
Techniques - Biology Fortified, Inc" .
Biology Fortified, Inc. Retrieved
2016-12-05.
4. De Beuckeleer, Mariani; De Beuckeleer,
Celestina; De Beuckeleer, Marc;
Truettner, Jessie; Leemans, Jan;
Goldberg, Robert (1990). "Induction of
 Male Sterility in Plants by a Chimaeric
Ribonuclease Gene". Nature.
437.6295: 737–41 – via Google
Scholar.
5. "About Banana21" .
www.banana21.org. Retrieved
2016-12-05.
6. Figueroa-Yañez, Luis; Pereira-Santana,
Alejandro; Arroyo-Herrera, Ana;
Rodriguez-Corona, Ulises; Sanchez-
Teyer, Felipe; Espadas-Alcocer, Jorge;
Espadas-Gil, Francisco; Barredo-Pool,
Felipe; Castaño, Enrique (2016-10-20).
"RAP2.4a Is Transported through the
Phloem to Regulate Cold and Heat
 Tolerance in Papaya Tree (Carica
papaya cv. Maradol): Implications for
Protection Against Abiotic Stress" .
PLOS ONE. 11 (10): e0165030.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0165030 .
ISSN 1932-6203 . PMC 5072549 .
PMID 27764197 .
7. "MVD" . mvgs.iaea.org. Retrieved
2016-12-05.
8. "International Service for the
Acquisition of Agri-biotech
Applications - ISAAA.org" .
www.isaaa.org. Retrieved 2016-12-05.
9. "What does it take to bring a new GM
product to market? #GMOFAQ" . GMO
 FAQ. Retrieved 2016-12-05.
10. Zhao, Kai; Ren, Fangfang; Han,
Fangting; Liu, Qiwen; Wu, Guogan; Xu,
Yan; Zhang, Jian; Wu, Xiao; Wang,
Jinbin (2016-10-05). "Edible Safety
Assessment of Genetically Modified
Rice T1C-1 for Sprague Dawley Rats
through Horizontal Gene Transfer,
Allergenicity and Intestinal
Microbiota" . PLOS ONE. 11 (10):
e0163352.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0163352 .
ISSN 1932-6203 . PMC 5051820 .
PMID 27706188 .
Momoh James Osamede (2016). Crop
Biotechnology in Nigeria. Procedure for
 Postgraduate workshop, UNIBEN,
Nigeria 27 April 2016. BENIN CITY ,
Nigeria

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