Genetic Engineering and Genetic Modification of Food Plants

Genetic Engineering and Genetic Modification of Food Plants

by James K. Sayre

For millions of years, plants evolved naturally. They reproduced in two methods: asexually and sexually. In asexual reproduction, the offspring, typically propagated by bulbs, roots or suckers, were perfect genetic copies of the parent plant. In sexual reproduction with flowers and seeds, male pollen and female ovaries combine to produce new offspring. Some of these offspring could be different from the parent plants, due to the combining of characteristics of the two. Sometimes they suffered random genetic mutations, which gave rise to different characteristics in the resulting plants. Most of the mutations had a negative effect on the survivability of the plants in question a few of the mutations has positive effects, and some of these were then transmitted to future generations.

More recently in geological time, higher plants developed more complex flowers and sexual breeding. Insects, birds, and small mammals were enticed into carrying male pollen from one flower to the female ovary in another flower by the offering of sweet nectar. The changes in species over time was first described in detail by Charles Darwin in his classic work, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life, published in 1859.

In the last few thousand years, man has done selective breeding of food plants, with an eye to increasing the size of edible fruits, roots, leaves and seeds. In the last one hundred years, plant breeding became more sophisticated with the development of cross-breeding and hybrids.

Now, in the last decade or so, scientists have been able to transfer microscopic amounts of genetic materials from plant to plant and from animal to plant, from fungus to plant and from bacteria to plant. These new laboratory techniques are called genetic engineering (GE) or genetic modification (GM), the terms being roughly interchangeable.

GM and GE

Back in the innocent days of yore (before about 1990), the abbreviations GM and GE stood for large successful American corporations, respectively General Motors and General Electric. Now, in the brave new world of foods, GM stands for Genetic Modification and GE stands for Genetic Engineering.

End.

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Please feel free to Email the author at sayresayre@yahoo;com. sayresayre@yahoo.com

This web page was recently created by James Sayre.

Contact author James K. Sayre at sayresayre@yahoo.com. Author's Email: sayresayre@yahoo.com

Web page last updated on 23 June 2003.