Instruct: Given a question, retrieve documents that answer the question.
Query: What was the first genetically modified crop plant?
The first genetically modified crop, an antibiotic-resistant tobacco plant, was produced in 1982. China was the first country to commercialize transgenic plants, introducing a virus-resistant tobacco in 1992. In 1994 Calgene attained approval to commercially release the Flavr Savr tomato, the first genetically modified food. Also in 1994, the European Union approved tobacco engineered to be resistant to the herbicide bromoxynil, making it the first genetically engineered crop commercialised in Europe. An insect resistant Potato was approved for release in the US in 1995, and by 1996 approval had been granted to commercially grow 8 transgenic crops and one flower crop (carnation) in 6 countries plus the EU.
As early in the history of biotechnology as 1990, there have been scientists opposed to attempts to modify the human germline using these new tools, and such concerns have continued as technology progressed. With the advent of new techniques like CRISPR, in March 2015 a group of scientists urged a worldwide moratorium on clinical use of gene editing technologies to edit the human genome in a way that can be inherited. In April 2015, researchers sparked controversy when they reported results of basic research to edit the DNA of non-viable human embryos using CRISPR. A committee of the American National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Medicine gave qualified support to human genome editing in 2017 once answers have been found to safety and efficiency problems "but only for serious conditions under stringent oversight."
Announced in 2008, shortly after the human 1000 Genomes Project, the 1000 Plant Genomes Project (1KP) is a similar large-scale genomics using the high speed and efficiency of next-generation DNA sequencing. Headed by Dr. Gane Ka-Shu Wong and Dr. Michael Deyholos of the University of Alberta, the project successfully sequenced the transcriptomes (expressed genes) of 1000 different plant species by 2014.
BABA was first found to increase the resistance of plants to disease in 1960, when it was observed that it decreased late blight of tomato. Further tests were made in the 1960s, but it was not until the 1990s that interest in the compound was renewed. Since then, it has been shown to be effective in many different pathosystems under controlled conditions. Both perennial and annual plants have been shown to respond, as well as both monocot and dicot plants in the Solanaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Compositae, Fabaceae, Brassicaceae, Graminae, Malvaceae, Rosaceae, and Vitaceae families. Pathogen groups that have shown a response include viruses, bacteria, nematodes, fungi and oomycetes. It has also been shown to be effective in the field at protecting potato and tomato plants from late blight, grape vines from "Plasmopara viticola" and melons from "Monosporascus cannonballus".
With the cloning of a sheep known as Dolly in 1996 by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), the idea of human cloning became a hot debate topic. Many nations outlawed it, while a few scientists promised to make a clone within the next few years. The first hybrid human clone was created in November 1998, by Advanced Cell Technology. It was created using SCNT - a nucleus was taken from a man's leg cell and inserted into a cow's egg from which the nucleus had been removed, and the hybrid cell was cultured, and developed into an embryo. The embryo was destroyed after 12 days.
Gene therapy is the use of DNA as a pharmaceutical agent to treat disease. Gene therapy was first conceptualized in 1972, with the authors urging caution before commencing gene therapy studies in humans. The first FDA-approved gene therapy experiment in the United States occurred in 1990, on a four-year-old girl named, Ashanti DeSilva, she was treated for ADA-SCID. This is a disease that had left her defenseless against infections spreading throughout her body. Dr. W French Anderson was a major lead on this clinical trial, he worked for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Since then, over 1,700 clinical trials have been conducted using a number of techniques for gene therapy.
Various genetic discoveries have been essential in the development of genetic engineering. Genetic inheritance was first discovered by Gregor Mendel in 1865 following experiments crossing peas. Although largely ignored for 34 years he provided the first evidence of hereditary segregation and independent assortment. In 1889 Hugo de Vries came up with the name "(pan)gene" after postulating that particles are responsible for inheritance of characteristics and the term "genetics" was coined by William Bateson in 1905. In 1928 Frederick Griffith proved the existence of a "transforming principle" involved in inheritance, which Avery, MacLeod and McCarty later (1944) identified as DNA. Edward Lawrie Tatum and George Wells Beadle developed the central dogma that genes code for proteins in 1941. The double helix structure of DNA was identified by James Watson and Francis Crick in 1953.As well as discovering how DNA works, tools had to be developed that allowed it to be manipulated. In 1970 Hamilton Smith's lab discovered restriction enzymes that allowed DNA to be cut at specific places and separated out on an electrophoresis gel. This enabled scientists to isolate genes from an organism's genome. DNA ligases, that join broken DNA together, had been discovered earlier in 1967 and by combining the two enzymes it was possible to "cut and paste" DNA sequences to create recombinant DNA. Plasmids, discovered in 1952, became important tools for transferring information between cells and replicating DNA sequences. Frederick Sanger developed a method for sequencing DNA in 1977, greatly increasing the genetic information available to researchers. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR), developed by Kary Mullis in 1983, allowed small sections of DNA to be amplified and aided identification and isolation of genetic material.
Wild grains were collected and eaten from at least 20,000 BC. From around 9500 BC, the eight Neolithic founder crops – emmer wheat, einkorn wheat, hulled barley, peas, lentils, bitter vetch, chick peas, and flax – were cultivated in the Levant. Rye may have been cultivated earlier but this remains controversial. Rice was domesticated in China by 6200 BC with earliest known cultivation from 5700 BC, followed by mung, soy and azuki beans. Pigs were domesticated in Mesopotamia around 11,000 BC, followed by sheep between 11,000 BC and 9000 BC. Cattle were domesticated from the wild aurochs in the areas of modern Turkey and Pakistan around 8500 BC. Sugarcane and some root vegetables were domesticated in New Guinea around 7000 BC. Sorghum was domesticated in the Sahel region of Africa by 5000 BC. In the Andes of South America, the potato was domesticated between 8000 BC and 5000 BC, along with beans, coca, llamas, alpacas, and guinea pigs. Bananas were cultivated and hybridized in the same period in Papua New Guinea. In Mesoamerica, wild teosinte was domesticated to maize by 4000 BC. Cotton was domesticated in Peru by 3600 BC. Camels were domesticated late, perhaps around 3000 BC.
The soybean was first cultivated in France by 1779 (and perhaps as early as 1740). The two key early people and organizations introducing the soybean to France were the Society of Acclimatization (starting in 1855) and Li Yu-ying (from 1910). Li started a large tofu factory, where the first commercial soyfoods in France were made.
An international effort is under way to improve sorghum farming. The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) has improved sorghum using traditional genetic improvement and integrated genetic and natural resources management practices. New varieties of sorghum from ICRISAT has now resulted in India producing 7 tons per hectare. Some 194 improved cultivars are now planted worldwide. In India, increases in sorghum productivity resulting from improved cultivars have freed up six million hectares of land, enabling farmers to diversify into high-income cash crops and boost their livelihoods. Sorghum is used primarily as poultry feed, and secondarily as cattle feed and in brewing applications.
The indigenous crops were replaced slowly by other more productive crops developed in Mexico: maize, beans and additional varieties of squash. Maize, or corn, was a relative latecomer to the United States. The oldest known evidence of maize in Mexico dates from 6,700 BCE. The oldest evidence of maize cultivated in the United States is about 2,100 BCE at several locations in Arizona and New Mexico.
However, in 2012, the Australian Safe Food Foundation alleged that the RNA trigger designed to change wheat's starch content might interfere with the gene for a human liver enzyme. Supporters countered that RNA does not appear to make it past human saliva or stomach acids. The US National Honey Bee Advisory Board told EPA that using RNAi would put natural systems at "the epitome of risk". The beekeepers cautioned that pollinators could be hurt by unintended effects and that the genomes of many insects are still unknown. Other unassessed risks include ecological (given the need for sustained presence for herbicide and other applications) and the possible for RNA drift across species boundaries.
Soybeans were first introduced to North America from China in 1765, by Samuel Bowen, a former East India Company sailor who had visited China in conjunction with James Flint, the first Englishman legally permitted by the Chinese authorities to learn Chinese. The first "New World" soybean crop was grown on Skidaway Island, Georgia in 1765 by Henry Yonge from seeds given him by Samuel Bowen. Bowen grew soy near Savannah, Georgia, possibly using funds from Flint, and made soy sauce for sale to England. Although, soybean was introduced into North America in 1765, for the next 155 years, the crop was grown primarily for forage.
In 1991 the FDA approved the first version of Genzyme's orphan drug Alglucerase (brand name Ceredase), the only treatment for Gaucher's disease. At that time, according to Genzyme CEO Henri Termeer — a pioneer in the biotechnology industry business model — one treatment of Ceredase for one patient took 22,000 placentas annually to manufacture, a difficult and expensive procedure. A new version of Ceredase, called Cerezyme, Imiglucerase which Genzyme produced in 1994 using genetically modified cells in vitro, was cheaper and easier to produce, was approved in several countries. In 2005 there were only about 4,500 patients on Cerezyme. In marketing imiglucerase, Termeer introduced the innovative and successful business strategy that became a model for the biotechnology or life sciences industry in general and specialty pharmacy in particular. Genzyme's added revenue from profits on the highly priced orphan or specialty drugs like imiglucerase, which had no competition, was used to undertake research and development for other drugs and to allow them to fund programs that distribute a small portion of production for free. In 2005 he then created what would eventually become a feature service of specialty pharmacy, by hiring 34 people to help patients acquire insurance plans that would cover the cost of their drugs. By 2005 although Cerezyme cost the average patient (including babies) $200,000 a year, it could cost a single adult patient as much as $520,000 a year even though it cost Genzyme less than $52,000 to manufacture, because the alternative is severe debilitation and early death. In 2005 there were only about 4,500 patients on Cerezyme.
In 1973, Roe v. Wade legalized abortion in the United States. Five years later, the first successful human "in vitro" fertilization resulted in the birth of Louise Brown in England. These developments prompted the federal government to create regulations barring the use of federal funds for research that experimented on human embryos. In 1995, the NIH Human Embryo Research Panel advised the administration of President Bill Clinton to permit federal funding for research on embryos left over from "in vitro" fertility treatments and also recommended federal funding of research on embryos specifically created for experimentation. In response to the panel's recommendations, the Clinton administration, citing moral and ethical concerns, declined to fund research on embryos created solely for research purposes, but did agree to fund research on left-over embryos created by "in vitro" fertility treatments. At this point, the Congress intervened and passed the Dickey-Wicker Amendment in 1995 (the final bill, which included the Dickey Amendment, was signed into law by Bill Clinton) which prohibited any federal funding for the Department of Health and Human Services be used for research that resulted in the destruction of an embryo regardless of the source of that embryo. In 1998, privately funded research led to the breakthrough discovery of human Embryonic stem cells (hESC).
Additional research is being done on sorghum as a potential food source to meet the increasing global food demand. Sorghum is resistant to drought- and heat-related stress. The genetic diversity between subspecies of sorghum makes it more resistant to pests and pathogens than other less diverse food sources. In addition, it is highly efficient in converting solar energy to chemical energy, and also in use of water. All of these characteristics make it a promising candidate to help meet the increasing global food demand. As such, many groups around the world are pursuing research initiatives around sorghum (specifically "Sorghum bicolor"): Purdue University, HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, Danforth Plant Science Center, the University of Nebraska, and the University of Queensland among others. Queensland University is involved with pre-breeding activities, which are extremely successful and still are in progress using crop wild relatives as donors along with popular varieties as recipients to make sorghum more resistant to biotic stresses.
Sorghum bicolor, commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, durra, jowari, or milo, is a grass species cultivated for its grain, which is used for food for humans, animal feed, and ethanol production. Sorghum originated in Africa, and is now cultivated widely in tropical and subtropical regions. Sorghum is the world's fifth-most important cereal crop after rice, wheat, maize, and barley. "S. bicolor" is typically an annual, but some cultivars are perennial. It grows in clumps that may reach over 4 m high. The grain is small, ranging from 2 to 4 mm in diameter. Sweet sorghums are sorghum cultivars that are primarily grown for forage, syrup production, and ethanol; they are taller than those grown for grain.
Livestock are modified with the intention of improving economically important traits such as growth-rate, quality of meat, milk composition, disease resistance and survival. Animals have been engineered to grow faster, be healthier and resist diseases. Modifications have also improved the wool production of sheep and udder health of cows. Goats have been genetically engineered to produce milk with strong spiderweb-like silk proteins in their milk. A GM pig called Enviropig was created with the capability of digesting plant phosphorus more efficiently than conventional pigs. They could reduce water pollution since they excrete 30 to 70% less phosphorus in manure. Dairy cows have been genetically engineered to produce milk that would be the same as human breast milk. This could potentially benefit mothers who cannot produce breast milk but want their children to have breast milk rather than formula. Researchers have also developed a genetically engineered cow that produces allergy-free milk.
The pomelo ("Citrus maxima"), a second of the core species from which most citrus hybrids have derived, is native to southeast Asia. Among the hybrids deriving from mandarin/pomelo crosses, there is a direct correlation between the proportion of pomelo DNA in the hybrid and fruit size, while the more palatable mandarins are those that have received specific genes from pomelos that alter their acidity. Some of the more common pomelos are genetically pure, while a number have a single small region of introgressed mandarin DNA on one chromosome, the result of a cross followed by extensive backcrossing with pomelo.
Following the footsteps of the Enlightenment rationalism and experimentalism, Germany began to see the rise of agricultural experiment stations, indicating the beginnings of an attempt to merge traditional agronomy with analytical chemistry. In 1840, Justus von Liebig, an influential German chemist and professor at the University of Giessen, published his book "Organic Chemistry in its Application to Agriculture and Physiology". Liebig theorized that nitrogen and trace minerals from soil erosion were essential to plant nutrition, and, from this analytical chemistry perspective, simplified agriculture to a series of chemical reactions. While Liebig’s work inspired a generation of analytical agricultural chemists interested in fundamental questions of plant nutrition, founders of early German agricultural experiment stations did not solely seek to pursue questions of soil chemistry, but rather sought to bridge the gap between the two fields of agriculture and chemistry.
The discovery of insulin at the University of Toronto in 1921 is considered among the most significant events in the history of medicine. The stem cell was discovered at the university in 1963, forming the basis for bone marrow transplantation and all subsequent research on adult and embryonic stem cells. This was the first of many findings at Toronto relating to stem cells, including the identification of pancreatic and retinal stem cells. The cancer stem cell was first identified in 1997 by Toronto researchers, who have since found stem cell associations in leukemia, brain tumors and colorectal cancer. Medical inventions developed at Toronto include the glycaemic index, the infant cereal Pablum, the use of protective hypothermia in open heart surgery and the first artificial cardiac pacemaker. The first successful single-lung transplant was performed at Toronto in 1981, followed by the first nerve transplant in 1988, and the first double-lung transplant in 1989. Researchers identified the maturation promoting factor that regulates cell division, and discovered the T-cell receptor, which triggers responses of the immune system. The university is credited with isolating the genes that cause Fanconi anemia, cystic fibrosis and early-onset Alzheimer's disease, among numerous other diseases. Between 1914 and 1972, the university operated the Connaught Medical Research Laboratories, now part of the pharmaceutical corporation Sanofi-Aventis. Among the research conducted at the laboratory was the development of gel electrophoresis.
The USA is the largest commercial grower of genetically modified crops in the world. United States regulatory policy is governed by the Coordinated Framework for Regulation of Biotechnology. The United States is not a signatory to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. For a genetically modified organism to be approved for release it is assessed by the USDA, the FDA and the EPA. USDA evaluates the plant's potential to become weeds, the FDA reviews plants that could enter or alter the food supply and the EPA regulates the genetically modified plants with pesticide properties. Most developed genetically modified plants are reviewed by at least two of the agencies, with many subject to all three. Final approval can still be denied by individual counties within each state. In 2004, Mendocino County, California became the first and only county to impose a ban on the "Propagation, Cultivation, Raising, and Growing of Genetically Modified Organisms", the measure passing with a 57% majority. (See Mendocino County GMO Ban)
The first genetically modified crops were made with transgenic approaches, introducing foreign genes and sometimes using bacteria to transfer the genes. In the US, these foreign genetic elements placed the resulting plant under the jurisdiction of the USDA under the Plant Protection Act. However, as of 2010, newer genetic engineering technologies like genome editing have allowed scientists to modify plant genomes without adding foreign genes, thus escaping USDA regulation. Critics have called for regulation to be changed to keep up with changing technology.
The People's Republic of China was the first country to allow commercialized transgenic plants, introducing a virus-resistant tobacco in 1992, which was withdrawn in 1997. The first genetically modified crop approved for sale in the U.S., in 1994, was the "FlavrSavr" tomato. It had a longer shelf life, because it took longer to soften after ripening. In 1994, the European Union approved tobacco engineered to tolerate the herbicide bromoxynil, making it the first commercially genetically engineered crop marketed in Europe.
In 2014, 181.5 million hectares of genetically modified crops were planted in 28 countries. Half of all GM crops planted were genetically modified soybeans, either for herbicide tolerance or insect resistance. Eleven countries grew modified soybean, with the USA, Brazil and Argentina accounting for 90% of the total hectarage. Of the 111 hectares of soybean grown worldwide in 2014, 82% was genetically modified in some way. Seventeen countries grew a total of 55.2 million hectares of genetically modified maize and fifteen grew 23.9 hectares of genetically modified cotton. Nine million hectares of genetically modified canola was grown with 8 million of those in Canada. Other GM crops grown in 2014 include Alfalfa (862 000 ha), sugar beet (494 000 ha) and papaya (7 475 ha). In Bangladesh a genetically modified eggplant was grown commercially for the first time on 12ha.