with suitable examples how transgenic plants contribute in plant improvement programme?

Question

this question was asked for 15 marks so provide atleastinfo abt 2 pages. fast !!!

Answer 1

No one knows for sure it is very new scientific experiment. We will come to know after 50 yrs or so.

Answer 2

What are the benefits of biotechnology in agriculture?

Benefits
Risks
Everything in life has its benefits and risks, and genetic modification is no exception. Much has been said about potential risks of genetic modification technology, but so far there is little evidence from scientific studies that these risks are real. Transgenic organisms can offer a range of benefits above and beyond those that emerged from innovations in traditional agricultural biotechnology. Following are a few examples of benefits resulting from applying currently available genetic modification techniques to agricultural biotechnology.

Increased crop productivity
Biotechnology can help to increase crop productivity by introducing such qualities as disease resistance and increased drought tolerance to the crops. Researchers can select genes for disease resistance from other species and transfer them to important crops. For example, researchers from the University of Hawaii and Cornell University developed two varieties of papaya resistant to papaya ringspot virus by transferring one of the virus’ genes to papaya to create resistance in the plants. Seeds of the two varieties, named ‘SunUp’ and ‘Rainbow’, have been freely distributed to papaya growers since May of 1998.

Further examples come from dry climates, where crops must use water as efficiently as possible. Genes from naturally drought-resistant plants can be used to increase drought tolerance in many crop varieties.

Enhanced crop protection
Farmers use crop-protection technologies because they provide cost-effective solutions to pest problems which, if left uncontrolled, would severely lower yields. For example, crops such as corn, cotton, and potato have been successfully transformed through genetic engineering to make a protein that kills certain insects when they feed on the plants. The protein is from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis, which has been used for decades as the active ingredient of “natural” insecticides.

In some cases, an effective transgenic crop-protection technology can control pests better and more cheaply than existing technologies. For example, with Bt bred into a corn crop, the entire crop is resistant to certain pests, not just the part of the plant to which Bt insecticide has been applied. In these cases, yields increase as the new technology provides more effective control. In other cases, a new technology is adopted because it is less expensive than a current technology with equivalent control.

There are cases in which new technology is not adopted because for one reason or another it is not competitive with the existing technology. For example, organic farmers apply Bt as an insecticide to control insect pests in their crops, yet they may consider transgenic Bt crops to be unacceptable.

Improvements in food processing
The first GMO food product to receive regulatory approval, in 1990, was chymosin, an enzyme produced by genetically engineered bacteria. It replaces calf rennet in cheese-making and is now used in 60 percent of all cheese manufactured. Its benefits include increased purity, a reliable supply, a 50 percent cost reduction, and high cheese-yield efficiency.

Improved nutritional value
Today there is increasing interest in improving the nutritional value, flavor, and texture of foods. Transgenic crops in development include soybeans with higher protein content, potatoes with more nutritionally available starch and an improved amino acid content, beans with more essential amino acids, and rice with the ability produce beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A, to help prevent blindness in people who have nutritionally inadequate diets.

Better flavor
Flavor can be altered by enhancing the activity of plant enzymes that transform aroma precursors into flavoring compounds. Types of peppers and melons with improved flavor are currently in field trials.

Fresher produce
Genetic modification can result in improved keeping properties to make transport of fresh produce easier, giving consumers access to nutritionally valuable whole foods and preventing decay, damage, and loss of nutrients. Transgenic tomatoes with delayed softening can be vine-ripened and still be shipped without bruising. Research is under way to make similar modifications to broccoli, celery, carrots, melons, and raspberry. The shelf-life of some processed foods such as peanuts has also been improved by using ingredients that have had their fatty acid profile modified.

Environmental benefits
When genetic engineering results in reduced pesticide dependence, we have less pesticide residues on foods, we reduce pesticide leaching into groundwater, and we minimize farm worker exposure to hazardous products. With Bt cotton’s resistance to three major pests, the transgenic variety now represents half of the U.S. cotton crop and has thereby reduced total world insecticide use by 15 percent! Also, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), “increases in adoption of herbicide-tolerant soybeans were associated with small increases in yields and variable profits but significant decreases in herbicide use.”

Benefits for developing countries
Genetic modification technologies can help to improve health conditions in less developed countries. Researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology’s Institute for Plant Sciences inserted genes from a daffodil and a bacterium into rice plants to produce “golden rice,” which has sufficient beta-carotene to meet total vitamin A requirements in developing countries with rice-based diets. This crop has potential to significantly improve vitamin uptake in poverty-stricken areas where vitamin supplements are costly and difficult to distribute and vitamin A deficiency leads to blindness in children.


Benefits of Transgenic Plants

First generation transgenic varieties have benefited many farmers in the form of reduced production costs, higher yields, or both. In many cases, they have also benefited the environment because of reduced pesticide usage or by providing the means to grow crops with less tillage. Insects are responsible for huge losses to crops in the field and to harvested products in transit or storage, but health concerns for consumers and for environmental impact have limited the registration of many promising chemical pesticides. Genes for pest resistance, carefully deployed in crops to avoid selecting for future pest resistance, provide alternative opportunities to reduce the use of chemical pesticides in many important crops. In addition, lowering the contamination of our food supply by pathogens that cause food safety problems (e.g., mycotoxins) would be beneficial to farmers and consumers alike.
Pharmaceuticals and Vaccines from Transgenic Plants

Vaccines are available for many of the diseases that cause widespread death or human discomfort in developing countries, but they are often expensive both to produce and use. The majority must be stored under conditions of refrigeration and administered by trained specialists, all of which adds to the expense. Even the cost of needles to administer vaccines is prohibitive in some countries. As a result the vaccines often do not reach those in most need. Researchers are currently investigating the potential for GM technology to produce vaccines and pharmaceuticals in plants. This could allow easier access, cheaper production, and an alternative
Transgenic plants root out the problem of crop-eating organisms

Genetically-engineered plants which are resistant to crop-damaging pests and diseases could prove vital in meeting the growing food demands of a rapidly expanding population. To meet the projected global demand we need to increase yields per hectare and cultivate an extra four million new hectares of land every year for the next one hundred years. "Plants that have been improved by genetic engineering will play a vital role in the future," says Professor Howard Atkinson of the University's Centre for Plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology.

Around $100 billion of crops per year is lost to small animals in the soil called nematodes. These simple animals are abundant in many environments – often with billions per hectare of field soil. Current chemicals used against them in soil are environmentally harmful and a severe health risk to farm workers.

Transgenic plants with nematode resistance can lessen the need for chemical control and so reduce environmental damage. They can also help those who cannot afford pesticides or who are not equipped to use them safely, Professor Atkinson will argue in his talk at this year's British Association Festival of Science at Leeds.

One particular plant gene product prevents the animal digesting plant protein in its food – an inadequate diet means the nematode cannot grow and damage the plant. This plant gene product is currently eaten daily by millions of people without known ill-effects – it is naturally present in rice seed and biotechnology now allows us to transfer this natural trait from rice to other plants

The new transgenic resistance protects against a wide range of different nematodes rather than just a limited range as usually occurs with natural resistance. The new transgenic seed need cost no more than that in current use and it can be grown without changing farming methods.

Bolivia is one country that would benefit from transgenic plants. Some of its families spend up to 13% of the family income on potatoes – a staple of their diet. This makes more profitable crops such as Coca, from which cocaine is produced, very attractive. Agricultural development would help raise standards of living and reduce supplies to the drugs trade.

These issues are surrounded by ethical debate, but Professor Atkinson argues the perceived risk of corporate exploitation can be avoided. There are already examples of transgenic plants being made available to the developing world without royalty charges through charities and government agencies. "Transgenic plants offer new opportunities to help provide food security for all" he says, "and the challenge is how to make this technology appropriate for the developing world as soon as possible."