Eat your genes : how genetically modified food is entering our diet

목차 (Table of Contents)

• CONTENTS
• Introduction = ⅷ
• 1 A brief history of genetic improvement in agriculture = 1
• Artificial selection = 1
• The laws of inheritance = 2
• The Green Revolution = 4
• Plant breeding and genetic engineering = 5
• The scale of transgenic plant releases to the environment = 6
• Biotechnology : transgenic bacteria and fungi = 7
• Genetic modifications to animals and fish = 8
• 2 What is genetic engineering? = 11
• DNA = 11
• Protein synthesis = 12
• Jumping genes = 13
• Enzymes : the genetic engineer's toolkit = 15
• Methods of gene transfer to crop plants = 17
• Viral vectors and gene regulation = 17
• Bacterial vectors : the Agrobacterium method = 18
• Gene guns = 20
• Gene silencing = 21
• Plant tissue culture = 22
• Marker genes = 22
• Gene libraries = 24
• 3 Milking it : increasing yields and the pharming of proteins = 27
• Recombinant bovine somatotropin(rBST) = 27
• The pharming of transgenic animals = 33
• Dolly the sheep and animal cloning = 34
• 4 Herbicide-resistant crops = 37
• Advantages for weed control = 37
• Achieving herbicide resistance = 38
• Monsanto's Roundup Ready™ crops = 41
• Environmental considerations = 42
• 5 Insect-resistant crops and a modified insect baculovirus = 47
• Bacillus thuringiensis toxin = 47
• Ciba-Geigy's B.t. maize = 49
• Protease inhibitors and lectins = 50
• Pyramiding genes = 52
• Benefits for insect control = 54
• Resistance management = 55
• Baculovirus : engineering a quicker kill = 58
• 6 Designer food and engineered plants = 64
• Modifications for food processing and taste = 64
• Oilseed composition = 68
• Protein content = 69
• Viral resistance = 70
• Fungal resistance = 71
• Nematode resistance = 72
• Photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation = 73
• Tolerance to high salinity and other poor soil conditions = 74
• Tolerance to drought conditions = 75
• Tolerance to frost : ice minus bacteria and antifreeze proteins = 76
• Drugs and vaccines = 77
• Engineering cotton : blue jeans and plastic plants = 78
• 7 Ecological risks = 80
• Risk assessment = 80
• Risks posed by transgenic micro-organisms = 82
• Risks posed by virus-resistant crops = 84
• Risk of invasion and adverse effects on other organisms = 85
• The risk of transgene spread = 86
• 8 Risks to human health = 91
• Allergens = 91
• Antibiotic-resistant micro-organisms = 93
• 9 Some ethical and moral issues = 97
• Ethically sensitive genes = 97
• Animal welfare = 98
• Is DNA life? = 100
• 10 The lucrative art of patenting = 104
• Patenting plants = 104
• Species-wide patents = 108
• Interfirm cooperation agreements = 110
• Gene-licensing agreements = 112
• The decline of independent seed companies = 113
• The GATT and the MAIs : free trade and global rights for multinationals = 114
• Intellectual property rights and genetic resources from the Third World = 117
• 11 Regulation of genetically modified organisms and food products = 122
• The regulatory framework in the USA = 123
• The regulatory framework in the UK = 126
• 12 Marketing approval for genetically modified food in Europe = 129
• Decision-making in the European Community = 129
• Monsanto's Roundup Ready™ soybeans = 130
• Ciba-Geigy's B.t. maize = 134
• A new wave of crops = 140
• 13 The consuming question of labelling = 144
• Lessons from irradiated foods = 144
• The case against mandatory labelling : the food is no different = 145
• The case for mandatory labelling : the consumer's right to choose = 147
• Europe decides = 148
• Negative labelling and organic food = 153
• 14 Impacts on the Third World = 156
• Transgenic crops and the world's hungry = 156
• Transgenic crops : chemical dependency or sustainable agriculture? = 160
• Economic impacts = 164
• 15 Prospects for genetically modified food = 172
• Who benefits? = 172
• Perceived risks and benefits = 175
• The battle for hearts and minds = 177
• Abbreviations = 188
• Glossary = 190
• Bibliography = 195
• Index = 203