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Last harvest for okra....EVER!!!!
An introduction to why we do GM of crops (not really how). Lots more resources from the Royal Society on GM can be found here
The first stage in making a GM plant requires transfer of DNA into a plant cell. One of the methods used to transfer DNA is to coat the surface of small metal particles with the relevant DNA fragment, and bombard the particles into the plant cells. Another method is to use a bacterium or virus. There are many viruses and bacteria that transfer their DNA into a host cell as a normal part of their life cycle. For GM plants, the bacterium most frequently used is called Agrobacterium tumefaciens. The gene of interest is transferred into the bacterium and the bacterial cells then transfer the new DNA to the genome of the plant cells. The plant cells that have successfully taken up the DNA are then grown to create a new plant. This is possible because individual plant cells have an impressive capacity to generate entire plants. On rare occasions, the process of DNA transfer can happen without deliberate human intervention. For example the sweet potato contains DNA sequences that were transferred thousands of years ago, from Agrobacterium bacteria into the sweet potato genome.
A very surficial look at the very new method called CRISPR - pay attention to this tech as you are going to see it pop up more and more when it comes to genetically modifying food (and other things!). Here is just one example article (I bet you can find tons!)
“Some segments of people aren’t going to care as much about how it was done...as long as they get this amazing thing they get to eat.”
http://www.fao.org/3/i3866e/i3866e.pdf
https://medium.com/thenextnorm/importance-of-genetic-diversity-in-agriculture-b9f88f5fda55
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_potato#Previously_marketed_varieties
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bsJzd58FJDf7yx9He7MAmbsXCtfM_x98/view?usp=sharing
The three new varieties, Russet Burbank, Ranger Russet, and Atlantic are part of the Innate Gen. 2 line from Simplot. The company touts the new varieties as less prone to bruising and black spot, containing less asparagine, having enhanced cold storage capability, and resistant to late blight pathogens.
The genetic material used to achieve late blight resistance comes from a wild South American potato species. Simplot believes the resistant varieties will reduce fungicide applications by up to 50%.
Simplot also says the new varieties’ reduced asparagine result in acrylamide accumulations being reduce by up to 90%. And lowered reducing sugars allow for cold storage at 38°F for more than six months without the build-up of sugars.
Miami white corn
Miami white corn
...several contemporary Myaamia elders commented on traditional corn cultivation practices including the special role of women in this tradition:
"Women are the keepers of the corn seeds and pass them on to their daughters. When planting we put the seeds in our mouth first to moisten them and to give them a little life before planting."
"Both men and women helped in corn cultivation, the men helping to clear the fields by pulling out large tree stumps. But the women did the planting and tending of corn."
"She (my step-mother) brought the flour corn that she called Aunt Mariah’s corn [Myaamia white corn, from Indiana to Kansas] . . . and she just saved everything from year to year, you know."
Traditional corn varieties Historical language documents yielded several color terms associated with corn (Table 4), suggesting several distinct corn varieties historically cultivated (Baldwin & Costa 2005, Dunn ca. 1900, Gravier 2002–2006 [ca. 1700], Masthay 2002, Pinet 2004 [1696–ca.1700]). Myaamia white corn (Figure 8) was the most common variety of corn described in cultivation historically—its use first recorded in 1702 as a variety unique to the Myaamia culture, and again in the 18th 19th and 20th centuries (Charlevoix 1923 [1682–1761], Deliette (1934 [1702]), Dunn ca. 1900, 1909, 1919, Gatschet ca. 1895). The uniqueness and importance of Myaamia white corn to contemporary Myaamia culture was supported in interviews where elders described in detail its physical characteristics to include a stalk bearing deep, red roots, long, thin ears with red silks, and eight to ten rows of whitish kernels (Olds 2000, Rafert 1989). Elders also described specific methods to maintain strain purity and family stories of hand-carrying seeds during forced relocation (Olds et al. 1999, Olds 2002). Elders described Myaamia white corn as a flour corn for grinding into flour or meal, or for parching, cracking, or cooking whole to make hominy—always involving some type of processing before consumption.
Utility of Genetic Diversity for the Future of Food
Utility of Genetic Diversity for the Future of Food
seed sovereignty
maximum yields vs. reliable yields
resilience in novels conditions
Others?
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