2012 Mini Reports
Mini Reports are a vehicle for
bringing information to class as a starting point for discussion. Most
of the report should consist of data, rather than extensive background
or analysis. However, supply background where necessary, and summarize
what you feel are the most important conclusions to be drawn from the
data.
The best sources are either the peer-reviewed scientific literature,
publications from reliable organizations (eg. UN, World Bank, FAO,
governments). Note that Nature
and Science often
have feature articles that cover broad topics, and are quite useful.
Many academic research labs at universities also have useful web sites.
Information from reliable science magazines such as Scientific American, are
also welcome. Web sites may also be used, but be choosy about the
sources. Wikipedia may be a useful starting point in your research, but
most of your information should come from primary sources.
(For technical help with web sites, contact Graham Alvare, alvare@cc.umanitoba.ca).
Sample evaluation form
Topic outline
Minireports - Round 1
Population
Growth and Resource Limitations
Investigate the ways in which water may
be a limiting factor to further increases in agricultural production.
Points to investigate may include:
- Which crops require irrigation, and where are the grown with
irrigation? (eg. Wheat is grown in the Pacific Northwest and American
West using irrigation, but in the Canadian prairies and American
mid-west with natural rainfall.)
- Does agriculture compete with other sectors for water usage?
- What are the sources of fresh water for agriculture?
- Can water be transported from one region to another?
- How will climate change affect the availability of fresh water?
What are the prospects for increasing
production by increasing the area of arable land? Points to investigate
may include:
- Past trends in arable land
- Current land usage. Find statistics for cropping, grazing
- Sustainability of land currently in production
- How does urbanization affect land usage?
- Are there any predictions regarding the effects of global warming
on the availability of arable land?
What are the predicted major
impacts of climate change on agriculture by 2050?
- what changes have been seen so far. Of particular interest are
changes that impact on agriculture
- What are some of the projections for the rest of the century?
These might include mean temperatures, desertification leading to loss
or arable land; increases in sea level, resulting in loss of arable
land.
Biodiversity
and the Environment
- Herbicide
resistant crops
- Insect-resistant crops - Bt toxin
- Insect-resistant crops - Snowdrop lectin (GNA)
Areas for investigation might include:
- invasion and persistence in agricultural and natural
ecosystems by a transgenic line
- outcrossing of transgene to other species
- "gene pollution" of non-transgenic seed or products
- secondary ecological effects
- direct effects on non-target organisms (eg. effects of Bt corn
on monarch butterflies)
- indirect effects on non-target organisms (eg. effects of
elimination of weeds on local insect and animal populations)
Wherever possible, experimental data are better than theoretical
discussion. Keep in mind that a good baseline for comparison is non-GM
crops.
- Present results from any study in which
the persistance
of a transgenic crop has been observed for several years after
planting.
- Present the results from any study in
which outcrossing
of genes from transgenic plants into wild relatives or landraces has
been investigated.
Examples of the kinds of information you are looking for include:
- how many years does the plant/gene persist?
- how far from the point of introduction is the plant/gene found?
- how prevalent is the plant/gene in wild populations eg. as a
percentage of individuals or land area?
Minireports: Round 2
Nutrition
and Crop Safety
Nutrition
Focus on: What is
the impact of
vitamin A deficiency on health worldwide? golden rice technology;
current status of the
project; projected benefits or problems. You can use www.goldenrice.org
as a starting point.
Safety-
conventional food - GMOs aside, is our food
system intrinsically safe? What are
the
risks associated with eating? See how many statistics you can find on
disease or illness resulting from one of the following:
- bacterial contamination (food poisoning)
- mold (fungal toxins eg. aflatoxin in peanuts, corn)
- chemicals
eg. pesticides, preservatives etc. Also, see if you can find data on
what is considered to be "safe" levels of various chemicals or toxins
in food.
- prion-related disease (mad cow)
- plant toxins (eg. uncooked Lathyrus,
ricin in castor beans)
The CDC web site may be a good starting source.
Safety
-
GM
crops - Present the results of a study in
which
the safety or
nutritional
value of a GM crop has been evaluated.
Safety
-
Elimination of allergenicity through gene silencing
Present the results described in the following two papers:
Singh MB, Bhalla PL (2008) Genetic engineering for removing food
allergens from plants. Trends
in Plant Science 13:257-260.
Dodo HW et al. (2007) Alleviating peanut allergy using genetic
engineering: the silencing of the immunodominant allergen Ara h 2 leads
to its significant reduction and a decrease in peanut allergenicity. Plant Biotechnology Journal
6:135-145. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7652.2007.00292.x
Nutraceuticals
and BioPharming
Nanotechnology - Present an overview of the
use of
nanotechnology in foods.
- What are nanoparticles?
- How are nanoparticles used in food processing, packaging and as
food additives?
- What are the potential safety issues?
A good starting point is:
Sozer N, Kokini JL (2008) Nanotechnology and its applications in the
food sector. Trends in
Biotechnology 27:82-89.
Minireports - Round 3
- Production of recombinant vaccines in
transgenic
plants. Present an overview of how vaccines are
produced in plants. How are vaccines delivered? What are the data
on efficacy of transgenic vaccines? What are the advantages
or disadvantages of producing vaccines in plants?
Intellectual Property
- Choose a patent
involving a transgenic crop, as found
at the
US Patent and Trademark Office (http://www.uspto.gov).
Your presentation will summarize the invention and the patent. It
is
probably best to organize your discussion of the patent around the
standad criteria, which state that an invention must be
- Novel - It must be significantly different from already
existing inventions
- Non-obvious to someone skilled in the field
- Useful
Technical note: The US PTO
makes
patents available as plain HTML with very little formating, and as
high-resolution TIFF images of the complete document. The latter
requires that you download a plugin for your web browser. It is
probably best to read the HTML, and use the TIFF images solely to
capture figures or tables, if need be. I shall be happy to
assist you
with these details.
Regulation
of Plants with Novel Traits
- Provide a short summary
regarding the regulation of
Plants with Novel traits in Europe.
What are the major hoops that crops
have to go through to become approved? What crops have been approved,
and what have been grown? Note that the ban on transgenic crops has now
expired. What has changed in the ensuing time?
Impact of
Biotechnology on Agriculture
- Summarize the major
approaches to
production
of biofuels, sometimes referred to as first-, second- and third-
generation biofuels. What are the major crops used? What types of fuels
are
produced? How are they produced?
- The production of
crops
for biofuels
could
potentially represent a major use of land and other agricultural
resources, and could potentially drive up the cost of food. What has
been written regarding the impact of biofuels on agriculture and the
economy?