Transgenic foods -examples

So far the use of GM crops has significantly reduced pesticide use as the modified strains of crops are biologically resistant to insect pests and to specific diseases including those caused by some viruses. Below are some examples.

Competition between crop and weeds for nutrients and water is a major concern for farmers as it significantly reduces crop yield and quality. Therefore weed control is one of the biggest challenges in crop production. Many herbicides on the market control only certain types of weeds, and are approved for use only on certain crops at specific growth stages, while others act broadly against all plants. Still other herbicides remain in the ground for extended periods of time so farmers must be careful not to plant the next crop too early. As you can see this can be a major headache.
The picture on the right shows soy crop with weed infestation.
The picture on the right shows genetically modified soy crop with a herbicide resistant gene after spraying with Roundup, a powerful herbicide. These herbicide tolerant crops provide farmers with a headache free solution to weed control.
A soil bacterium called Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), forms spores containing a crystalline protein which acts as a powerful insecticide. The gene producing this protein has been identified and inserted into the genetic material of crops such as corn and cotton. When the insect chews on a leaf or bores into a stem of a GM plant, it ingests the toxin and will die within a few days. But this natural protein is not new, farmers have been spraying this protein on the crops for many years, the only difference is that plants now come complete with their own insecticide protein.

With climate change and increasing drought throughout the world it is imperative that we find new drought resistant varieties of food crops to sustain the human population. A major breakthrough has been achieved at the University of California when researcher successfully implanted bacterial DNA into a tobacco plant.The genetic material inserted into the tobacco plant included a gene form a bean plant and a gene from a bacteria.

They cleverly use bacteria to deliver the genes straight to the tobacco cells.

The tobacco plant was able to survive severe drought conditions and recover while the control plants did not. Genetically modified tobacco plants were able to recover from drought with only 30% of the water available to them in normal conditions.

If this can be successfully repeated in food crops then it is possible to imagine arid lands lush with food crops.
Continue with an article written by a journalist,Peter Hunt for the Weekly Times.