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genetic engineeringGenetically engineered products include bacteria designed to break down oil slicks and industrial waste products, drugs (human and bovine growth hormones, human insulin, interferon), and plants that are resistant to diseases, insects, and herbicides, that yield fruits or vegetables with desired qualities, or that produce toxins that act as pesticides. Genetic engineering techniques have also been used in the direct genetic alteration of livestock and laboratory animals (see pharming). Genetically engineered products usually require the approval of at least one U.S. government agency, such as the Dept. of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, or the Environmental Protection Agency.
Because genetic engineering involves techniques used to obtain patents on human genes and to create patentable living organisms, it has raised many legal and ethical issues. The safety of releasing into the environment genetically altered organisms that might disrupt ecosystems has also been questioned. The discovery in 2001 of genetically engineered DNA in native Mexican corn varieties made concerns of genetic pollution actual, and led some scientists to worry that the spread of transgenes through cross-pollination could lead to a reduction in genetic diversity in important crops. Imports of genetically modified corn, soybeans, and other crops have been curtailed or limited in some countries, and the vast majority of such crops are grown in just a handful of nations. The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, which has been signed by more than 100 nations and took effect in Sept., 2003, requires detailed information on whether and how imported seeds, plants, animals, other organisms, and the like are genetically modified and permits a nation to bar those imports, but a 2006 World Trade Organization decision treated the banning of genetically modified crops as a form of protectionism. The United States is not party to the 2003 treaty.
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- genetics
Genetics, scientific study of the mechanism of heredity. While Gregor Mendel first presented his findings on the statistical laws governing the transmission of certain traits from generation t...
- engineering
Engineering, profession devoted to designing, constructing, and operating the structures, machines, and other devices of industry and everyday life. The primary types of engineering are chemic...
- gene therapy
Gene therapy, the use of genes and the techniques of genetic engineering in the treatment of a genetic disorder or chronic disease. There are many techniques of gene therapy, all of them still...
- insulin
Insulin, hormone secreted by the ß cells of the islets of Langerhans, specific groups of cells in the pancreas. Insufficiency of insulin in the body results in diabetes. Insulin was one of the...
- New Mexico State University
New Mexico State University, at Las Cruces; land-grant and state supported; coeducational; chartered and opened 1889 as a college. It became New Mexico State Univ. of Engineering, Agriculture,...
- plant breeding
Plant breeding, science of altering the genetic pattern of plants in order to increase their value. Increased crop yield is the primary aim of most plant-breeding programs; advantages of the h...
- pharming
Pharming, the use of genetically altered livestock, such as cows, goats, pigs, and chickens, to produce medically useful products. In pharming, researchers first create hybrid genes using anim...
- blood substitute
Blood substitute, substance that mimics the function of blood. Blood substitutes typically concentrate only on reproducing the function of hemoglobin, the molecule that carries oxygen through ...
- uremia
Uremia, condition resulting from advanced stages of kidney failure in which urea and other nitrogen-containing wastes are found in the blood. Uremia can be caused by NSAIDs (nonsteroid anti-in...
- biotechnology
Biotechnology, the use of biological processes, as through the exploitation and manipulation of living organisms or biological systems, in the development or manufacture of a product or in the...
