Genetic Engineering In Plants and Forests

Plants and Crops
Genetic engineering in plants and crops is a substantially easier topic to understand than genetic engineering in animals.

For years, plants have been genetically engineered to control certain traits of interest. This is especially true when it comes to crop plants. Genetic engineering allows scientists, farmers, and company owners to choose the best of a group of crops and then recreate the desirable traits it possesses in other crops. The potential for the technology here is incredible.

There are two main types of genetic engineering in agricultural genetic modification:

Cisgenesis (meaning "same" and "beginning"): Cisgenesis is a genetic engineering technique between two plants that could normally be bred together in nature. A beneficial gene is extracted from a first plant and then transplanted into a plasmid within an agrobacterium (a bacteria known for its ability to transfer DNA between plants), often by use of a restriction enzyme. This enzyme cuts both the plasmid and the agrobacterium into shapes that fit into each other, and when the sticky ends make contact, they connect. Because all organisms share the same genetic code, when this agrobacterium transfers the desired genetic sequence into the new plant, the second plant is able to begin demonstrating the same traits as the first plant, according to the genetic information.

Transgenesis: Transgenesis is extremely similar to Cisgenesis. In fact, the only difference is that in Transgenesis, the genetic material that is being transferred comes from a completely unrelated plant, which could not reproduce with the second plant in nature. Once again, an external gene originating from another plant is transferred into another plant through a plasmid.
The second plant is then able to exhibit the same traits as the first. These traits are passed on to offspring.

Genetically modifying plants can greatly increase their nutritive value and make them more resistant to harsh or unfamiliar conditions and deadly diseases. Could you imagine planting a palm tree in Canada, during winter and having it survive!?
It would also be possible to make plants fix nitrogen straight from the atmosphere and not nutrients in their soil. This would make it much easier to plant nutritious crops in areas where there is not a large amount of fertile or healthy land or where there are major food sources and starvation.
Microorganisms could even be placed in plants' roots to aid in the collection of nutrients. Specific plants could be modified to even cleanse the environment around them and get rid of hazardous toxins. The possibilities are nearly endless.

Another Video:
What's for Dinner? - The Difference Between
Regular and Genetically Modified Potatoes

FRANKEN FOODS!

Forests
In today's world, forestry is a major and very profitable industry for numerous countries across the world, including our own. Products created from lumber are in very high demand and suppliers spend billions of dollars every year to provide them. As more and more companies join the increasing rush to harvest these resources, overall forest health and the number of trees worldwide is rapidly declining, leading many to look to genetic engineering for a solution.

Genetically modified trees are created more or less by the same process as other plants. Genes holding the codes for desired traits are placed into the forest's trees and they soon begin exhibiting the same desired traits. Offspring borne of their seeds also share the same traits.

If you recall, from our previous posts, genetic engineering is a process which allows scientists to choose and control specific genes in an organism's genome. Recent research in genetically modified trees has revealed that it is possible to engineer trees with faster growth, better disease resistance, greater longevity of life, and more oxygen production. Transgenic trees could produce better wood fibres and pulp. Damaged and endangered species disappearing from the face of the planet could also have their numbers dramatically increased by this technology. Many problems too, however, could come from genetically engineering forests. We will discuss these issues in a later post.

The Dangers of Deforestation