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*This page was produced as part of an assignment for an undergraduate course at Davidson College* GM Crops: A Farmer's Dream? |
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Conferring Resistance Ramifications |
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Disease Resistance: Conventional Techniques of Genetic Modification Before we discuss biotechnology, it is important to understand that protecting plants from disease is not a new topic and has been investigated for millennia. Whether or not farmers have been conscious of the fact, they have been modifying their crops to be more disease resistant for years through simple agriculture. It is common knowledge for a farmer to pick the most viable cultivars of a crop with which to either cross-breed or use for seed stock and thus these favorable crop traits are selected for and the traits are passed on In this way, future crop generations are theoretically made progressively more disease resistant. Other experimentation is underway with many farmers turning to less conventional planting styles in order to bolster their crops from disease. Many of those opposed to the use of biotechnology in genetic modification adamantly support the approach of researchers such as the Zhu group (Zhu et al., 2000). This group has been investigating glutinous and hybrid rice (Zhu et al., 2000). Glutinous or "sticky" rice is far more susceptible to a form of fungus known as blast disease than its more hearty hybrid cousin (Zhu et al., 2000). The researchers found that by varying the consistency of the crop cultivar in planting arrangement and in surrounding the entire glutinous cultivar with a border of hybrid rice, the rates of blast infection for the glutinous rice became a lot less severe (Zhu et al., 2000). The amount of decrease in blast infection was so extreme that in some cases, fungicide application was no longer a necessity (Zhu et al., 2000).
Fungicide is being sprayed on this rice field (Home of the Thunderbird, 1997) *Image Permission Pending* Regardless, the time constraints of the modern farmer and the complexities of farming with techniques such as these often can only exist in an ideal world, one in which farmers do not live. Many people are now turning to biotechnology for answers and genetic modification has answered with a plethora of research and several possibilities for crop modification.
Questions or comments can be directed to matalbert@davidson.edu  Page maintained by Matt Talbert, Nicole Hesson, and Sarah Parker Last modified April 2004 |
