What will the future hold for genetically modified crops1

Apuntes

What will the future hold for genetically modified crops? Throughout the twentieth century, scientists studied genes and genetic mechanisms. They investigated the genes of a huge variety of organisms, ranging from single-celled bacteria to multicellular plants and animals, including humans. All of these investigations support the same conclusion, which is that all living things use genes in very similar ways. A field of canola. The similarity of genetic mechanisms led scientists to ask: Could a gene from one organism be transferred to another, and be made to function in its new home? The answer proved to be yes. In the 1970s, scientists began transferring genes between bacteria. Then in 1983, scientists announced the creation of the first transgenic plants. Genes from bacteria were successfully incorporated into plant genomes, and the plants were producing the bacterial proteins. In the years after these experiments, scientists began developing genetically modified (GM) plants for use as farm crops. Some of the first GM plants received a gene from the bacterial species Bacillus thuringiensis. The gene directs the synthesis of a protein that is poisonous to certain insects, many...