Crops transgenic

In transgenic crops a specific fructosyltransferase and promoter can be selected to tailor the degree of polymerization and branching to certain needs. For example, using a Streptococcus mutans fructosyltransferase gene in which the C- or N-terminal peptide encoding portions are deleted, 

Biology and Chemistry of Jerusalem Artichoke Helianthus tuberosus L. 

It has already been pointed out that many naturally occurring insect-specific toxins are proteins. This means that the genes coding for those proteins can be isolated and introduced into crop plants, driven by selected promoters that allow the insecticidal proteins to be produced 

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There is also the additional concern of using transgenic plants and their environmental and genetic impact, and more specifically their effects in the human diet. Although a detailed discussion on transgenic crops is not within the scope of this review, it is worth mentioning a recent commentary on bioactives in transgenic plants by Finley (2005). 

The Field Evaluation of Transgenic Crops Engineered to Produce Recombinant Proteins... 

There has been a large number of field trials of transgenic crops that accumulate recombinant proteins, but the results of only a few have been reported so far. Of particular interest for the future are reports of detailed trial protocols that address confinement concerns multi-location, multi-year performance and stability data environmental impact and non-target impact studies and GLP production. The impact of production conditions on extraction efficiency and product quality are also significant issues that should be addressed through field-testing. 

Recombinant proteins with unique properties can potentially generate new markets and penetrate into existing markets if they can be supplied on a large scale. An ideal system would produce the safest biologically active material at the lowest cost, and would be used in combination with an inexpensive and simple purification process. So far, there have been several examples of the high-yield production of recombinant proteins in transgenic crop plants, mainly in the area of molecular medicines such as antibodies, enzymes and vaccines [45, 48-50]. Modern agricultural practices offer... 

Solving practical problems such as the development of sustainable transgenic crops cannot be dealt with by making the planning process more science-based. Dealing with wicked problems is always political because of its deontic premises. Science only generates factual, instrumental and in the best cases, explanatory knowledge. 

Seed invigoration Sociology Soil restoration Terracing Transgenic crops Trap crops Urban agriculture... 

Risk analysis has been proven to retain the flexibility necessary to make it a useful model system for addressing the countless issues that are found to be associated with plant-derived pharmaceuticals (Wolt and Peterson, 2000). Over the past few years, a great deal of information and experience has steadily accumulated with respect to risk analysis of pharmaceuticals that are currently produced in bacterial and aifimal cell bioreactor systems. Risk analysis has also been performed on transgenic crops used for food production as well as for other applications. As a result, elements from each of these disciplines can be incorporated into the design of optimal production and testing policies and practices. Risk analysis has been employed to cover a series of important issues regarding the large-scale manufacture of plant-made biopharmaceuticals, and will continue to present serious issues for researchers in the academic, corporate, and public health arenas to address (Miele, 1997 Ciliberti and Molinelli, 2005). 

The potential of flow of plant-made biopharmaceuticals into the human food chain remains. For example, plant-derived pharmaceuticals could cross-contaminate foodstuffs by spontaneous growth of transgenic crops in areas outside the intended field, or by pollen flow between some plants such as corn. It has been suggested that plant-derived biopharmaceuticals should be generated in nonfood crops, such as tobacco. However, food crops produce the greatest opportuitities for efficient production since they are among the most well-studied of crops. This continues to make them more feasible for edible vaccine production. 

In another example, in 2004 a judge ordered the USDA to identify the Hawaiian locations of four companies operating open air test sites for bio-pharmaceutical crops. The order had been earlier denied as it was considered to contain confidential business information protected from disclosure under federal law. Public disclosure could result in the destruction of the fields by anti-GM extremists. Vandalism such as this does little to protect the health of the public or the environment. Rather, it causes the dispersal of transgenic crops into the environment, thus creating the very harm feared by these adversaries (Jaffe, 2004a). 

Daniell, H. (2002). Molecular strategies for gene containment in transgenic crops. Nat. Biotechnol. 20 581-586. 

Jaffe, G. (2004b). Regulating transgenic crops a comparative analysis of different regulatory processes. Transgenic Res. 13 5-19. 

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