USING BIOTECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE LIFE AGRISCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Modified by Georgia Agricultural Education Curriculum Office July, 2002

WAYS BIOTECHNOLOGY IS USED IN AGRISCIENCE  Developing and using new forms of plants and animals.  Modifying plants and animals to improve their life processes.  Making substances from natural biological processes.  Improving the quality and kind of foods.

ISSUES THAT CONCERN PEOPLE ABOUT THE USE OF BIOTECHNOLOGY  Uncertainty  Dangers in new life forms  Keep organisms “natural”  Unhealthy food  Harm to handlers  Labeling  Ethics of joining plants and animals  Lack of information

MAJOR LEVELS OF BIOTECHNOLOGY  ORGANISMIC LEVEL - Deals with intact or complete organisms; involves helping them live and grow better.  MOLECULAR LEVEL - Involves changing the structure and parts of cells. Often studied by molecular biologists.

CLONING  Cloning is a process of asexually reproducing organisms.  Three examples are plant tissue culture, embro splitting, and apomixis.

GREATER FERTILITY  SUPEROVULATION - Injecting a cow with a hormone, such as gonadotropin, the cow may release 8-20 eggs during estrus instead of one egg.  EMBYRO TRANSFER - Involves removing an embryo from its mother and placing it in another female to develop. Embryos are transferred seven days after fertilization.

MORE PRODUCTION  Milk Hormones - BST can be given to cows to increase the amount of milk they produce.  Meat Hormones - Using PST causes hogs to produce more more muscle.  Growth Implants - Placing a small pellet under the skin of animals to promote growth.

AQUACULTURE  SPAWNING - Process of female fish producing eggs that are fertilized with sperm from male fish. Aquafarmers induce spawning by injecting the female fish with gonadotropin.  HATCHING - Artificially hatching eggs involves regulating water movement, temperature and oxygen level.

AQUACULTURE CONT.  NURSERY MANAGEMENT - Caring for the fry (newly-hatched fish) involves feeding the proper food, preventing disease, maintaining oxygen level and water temperature and removing waste materials.  SEX CHANGES - Some species do not grow well when males and females are left together; a newly developed way of changing the sex of newly- hatched fry.

ULTRASONICS  PRODUCT QUALITY - Ultrasound can be used to determine the amount of fat and muscle on cattle and other animals.  PREGNANCY ASSESSMENT - Ultrasound is used to determine the development of an embryo/fetus in a pregnant female.  LOCATE FISH - Sonar device is used to locate presence of fish in water.

MARKETING STRATEGIES  Food products are produced in different shapes and forms to encourage people to buy them.  Miniature vegetables; baby corn and carrots.  The round carrot can be sold for a higher price; the nutritional value is the same.

ANIMAL NUTRITION AND FEEDS  AMMONIATING HAY - Treating low quality hay with ammonia increased the protein content of hay and increased the digestibility.  DIGESTIBILITY TESTING - Feed is taken from or put into the digestive system through the fistula placed on an animal to study feed samples.

ANIMAL NUTRITION CONT.  CONTROLLED FEEDING - Cattle are sometimes fitted with sensors that allow the animal to eat only feed prepared for it.

PREDICTING THE FUTURE  PLANT GROWTH CHAMBERS - Used to study the effects of changes in the environment on plants.  COMPUTER SIMULATIONS - Examples of simulations include cropping models and erosion.  OTHER EXAMPLES - Using growth regulators, forcing plants, using wastes as feed.

GENETICS  Genetics is concerned with the traits parents pass to their offspring.  The difference between animals within the same species is called variability.  Traits that always show up in the offspring if they are present are said to be dominant; traits that can be covered up by other traits are recessive. Dominant trait in cattle is polled cattle. Recessive is red cattle.

DOUBLE HELIX  Two strands of DNA are twisted around forming a spiral structure.  Because of this structure, segments of DNA can be cut out and new ones inserted.  The information in an organism that causes it to function is its genetic code.  Mutations are changes in the genes and chromosomes; can be genetic and physical differences. Larger fruits is an example.

STEPS OF MITOSIS  Prophase - Involves the development of chromosomes and replication of DNA.  Metaphase - Chromosomes move to the middle of the cell.  Anaphase - Chromosomes separate and move to opposite sides of the cell.  Telophase - The nucleus forms and a membrane appears between each mass of chromosomes.

GENETIC ENGINEERING  The genetic information in the cell is changed or used to make a product. Sections of DNA molecules may be cut out and new sections inserted.  DNA of two different organisms may be combined.  E.coli bacteria are most often used as carriers of new DNA (vectors) into the cell.

WAYS GENETIC ENGINEERING BENEFITS AGRISCIENCE  Herbicide-Resistant Plants  Insect-Resistant Plants  Disease- Resistant Plants  Transgenic Animals  Frost Protection  Longer Storage Life  New Animal Products