Week 3 Conclusion

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IV. Conclusion

We’ll leave you to ponder the future of plant breeding, and to imagine what your garden might look like in, say, ten years. Will orange carrots still be the norm? Will we finally have a blue rose?

Next week we'll look at asexual propagation. We'll look at how plants have adapted to reproduce vegetatively, and discuss some of the techniques plant breeders use to propagate their creations.

We'll finish up the course with a look at ecology in the garden.

For more information, check out these links to other sites:

"Genetic Diversity" World Resources Institute
http://www.igc.apc.org/wri/biodiv/gene-div.html

The National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS)— a cooperative effort by public (State and Federal) and private organizations to preserve the genetic diversity of plants.
http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/

U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s page on biotechnology
http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/biotechm.html

"How the Terminator terminates: an explanation for the non-scientist of a remarkable patent for killing second generation seeds of crop plants"
http://www.bio.indiana.edu/people/terminator.html

"Nipping It In The Bud: Monsanto isn't just talking tough on seed piracy; it's taking action"—an article about growers saving patented seed for replanting.
http://progressivefarmer.com/indepth/1298/seed/index.html

"Genetically Engineered Crops: A Luddite's View" by E. Ann Clark, Plant Agriculture, Univ. of Guelph, Ontario
http://tdg.uoguelph.ca/www/CRSC/faculty/eac/biotech.htm

Greenpeace Website—lists current legislation, etc.
http://xs2.greenpeace.org/~geneng/

Union of Concerned Scientists—Web site; agriculture page
http://www.ucsusa.org/agriculture/index.html

The Gene Exchange, a publication of the Union of Concerned Scientists, Winter 1998
http://www.ucsusa.org/publications/index.html?ag.pubs.html#Geneexchange

"Perils Amidst the Promise—Ecological Risks of Transgenic Crops in a Global Market" (copyright 1993)
http://binas.unido.or.at/binas/Library/ucs/index.html

"Betting the Transgenic Farm" Chemical & Engineering News, April 28, 1997
http://pubs.acs.org/hotartcl/cenear/970428/bet.html

"Development and Commercialization of Insect Resistant Transgenic Crops"—the view from a representative of Monsanto
http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/ent/bcconf/talks/sims.html

The view from Novartis, a major biotech company; refutes issues of increased allergic responses, etc.
http://www.novartis.com/biotech/