Biotechnology Books

Tomorrow's Table: Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of Food

Pamela C. Ronald, R. W. Adamchak

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Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

By the year 2050, Earth's population will double. If we continue with current farming practices, vast amounts of wilderness will be lost, millions of birds and billions of insects will die, and the public will lose billions of dollars as a consequence of environmental degradation. Clearly, there must be a better way to meet the need for increased food production.
Written as part memoir, part instruction, and part contemplation, Tomorrow's Table argues that a judicious blend of two important strands of agriculture--genetic engineering and organic farming--is key to helping feed the world's growing population in an ecologically balanced manner. Pamela Ronald, a geneticist, and her husband, Raoul Adamchak, an organic farmer, take the reader inside their lives for roughly a year, allowing us to look over their shoulders so that we can see what geneticists and organic farmers actually do. The reader sees the problems that farmers face, trying to provide larger yields without resorting to expensive or environmentally hazardous chemicals, a problem that will loom larger and larger as the century progresses. They learn how organic farmers and geneticists address these problems.
This book is for consumers, farmers, and policy decision makers who want to make food choices and policy that will support ecologically responsible farming practices. It is also for anyone who wants accurate information about organic farming, genetic engineering, and their potential impacts on human health and the environment.

Starved for Science: How Biotechnology Is Being Kept Out of Africa

Robert Paarlberg

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Listen to a short interview with Robert Paarlberg
Host: Chris Gondek | Producer: Heron & Crane

Heading upcountry in Africa to visit small farms is absolutely exhilarating given the dramatic beauty of big skies, red soil, and arid vistas, but eventually the two-lane tarmac narrows to rutted dirt, and the journey must continue on foot. The farmers you eventually meet are mostly women, hardworking but visibly poor. They have no improved seeds, no chemical fertilizers, no irrigation, and with their meager crops they earn less than a dollar a day. Many are malnourished.

Nearly two-thirds of Africans are employed in agriculture, yet on a per-capita basis they produce roughly 20 percent less than they did in 1970. Although modern agricultural science was the key to reducing rural poverty in Asia, modern farm science—including biotechnology—has recently been kept out of Africa.

In Starved for Science Robert Paarlberg explains why poor African farmers are denied access to productive technologies, particularly genetically engineered seeds with improved resistance to insects and drought. He traces this obstacle to the current opposition to farm science in prosperous countries. Having embraced agricultural science to become well-fed themselves, those in wealthy countries are now instructing Africans—on the most dubious grounds—not to do the same.

In a book sure to generate intense debate, Paarlberg details how this cultural turn against agricultural science among affluent societies is now being exported, inappropriately, to Africa. Those who are opposed to the use of agricultural technologies are telling African farmers that, in effect, it would be just as well for them to remain poor.

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Creating Abundance: Biological Innovation and American Agricultural Development

Alan L. Olmstead, Paul W. Rhode

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Editorial Review:

This book demonstrates that American agricultural development was far more dynamic than generally portrayed. In the two centuries before World War II, a stream of biological innovations revolutionized the crop and livestock sectors, increasing both land and labor productivity. Biological innovations were essential for the movement of agriculture onto new lands with more extreme climates, for maintaining production in the face of evolving threats from pests, and for the creation of the modern livestock sector. These innovations established the foundation for the subsequent Green and Genetic Revolutions. The book challenges the misconceptions that, before the advent of hybrid corn, American farmers single-mindedly invested in laborsaving mechanical technologies and that biological technologies were static.

The Last Harvest: The Genetic Gamble That Threatens to Destroy American Agriculture

Paul Raeburn

List Price: $24.00 By: Simon & Schuster Amazon Marketplace: 71 new & used starting at $0.01

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Wake up America Nature has ways of making us eat humble pie 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Mr Raeburn's book is a wake up call to all those who think our scientists have all the answers. He exposes Big Agriculture's propoganda that we (they ?) are in control of our food supply. The immense diversity of edible foods is the true secret of nature's success, while reliance on a few varieties of grains, fruits and vegetables could spell disaster for the world's food supply.

In my opinion he doesn't get into the argument enough about the control exercized over Governments and Agricultural Depts by huge multi-national agricultural corporations, whose sole purpose is to increase shareholder earnings (its the "nature" of the beast).

For example Mad Cow disease is most likely one of the side effects of incomplete science used by those Ag Corps who used bovine hormone treatments to artificially increase yields ! The thought of the future side effects of genetic engineering, when most scientists say it is as much an art as a science, really scares me.

Despite the relatively neutral stance Raeburn takes, his work is still a good wake up call. His questioning the "playing at God" scientists, many funded by Big Industry Agriculture, has drawn critics to say his book is scientifically unfounded. This is a simplistic argument often used by self-serving interests and ego-sensitive scientists.

A good follow up to reading this book is Edward O Wilson's, "The Diversity of Life".

Editorial Review:

An award-winning science reporter uncovers the growing threat to America's food supply caused by genetic manipulation of crops that produces large, attractive produce that is vulnerable to fungi, global warming, and other dangers because of its genetic uniformity.

Plants, Genes, and Crop Biotechnology

Martin J Chrispeels

Amazon Price: $127.35 List Price: $135.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Inc. Amazon Marketplace: 22 new & used starting at $52.75

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Makes a Few Bold Admissions 4 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

This book contains twenty chapters plus a comprehensive index. Each chapter is written by a distinguished individual in his or her field. Each chapter consists of general opening remarks, detailed information about the subject of each chapter, a chapter summary at the end of each chapter, discussion questions and a list of references for further reading. The lead authors have created a text that would serve double duty as either an adequate text for an introductory lower division course on agronomy/plant sciences, or as a supplemental text for an upper division plant biology course which looks at the social and ethical dimensions of biotechnology and genetically modified organisms.

All the contributors share the belief that agricultural biotechnology in its current manifestation is merely an extension of biology in the natural world, and is but one consequence of Watson & Crick's monumental discovery. Chrispeels and Sadava, the two contributors responsible for compiling the text, boldly state that the biggest beneficiaries of the new GM technology will be those living in the developing countries, and as such reflects the standard party line of the pro-ag-biotech groups and organizations.

All inherent biases aside, the book is highly notable because of several bold admissions made throughout the text. First, the authors readily admit that agricultural biotechnology has no defensible place or justification in a world currently awash in plentiful food, but at the same time, they do believe that biotechnology will play an important role in tomorrow's world agriculture. Second, the also readily concede that distribution of food, and not its production, is the main culprit for hunger, but other issues do play an important role. Related to this is their admission that the ability to pay for food matters more than the supply of food itself; if people can pay for it, they will get it (here their words on the subject echo many of the thoughts put forth by Amartya Sen, and before him, Susan George). Third, they admit that most scientists working in the field of population and demography in the late 1960s and early 1970s made flat out wrong predictions about the infamous 'population bomb', and that predictions made today many not come to pass tomorrow- they are just guesses about the future. Here they appear to be backing away from the incendiary rhetoric of environmental luminaries such as Paul Ehrlich and Lester Brown. Fourth, and quite possibly the boldest admission of the text, was their concession that agricultural biotechnology has been oversold. Apparently, they saw fit to stop short of saying that ag-biotech has been and continues to be hyped into the stratosphere, but their very admission alone is satisfactory, as they later lay most of the blame for today's hysteria and urban myths surrounding ag-biotech and GM technologies upon the overselling of the technologies, where it justifiably belongs.

Indeed, the authors' concern for the overselling of the promise and potential of biotechnology is readily apparent in the final chapter of the book, where they address the myths and realities of agricultural biotechnology. However, even the authors can not resist the temptation to sell the reader on the potential benefits of an agricultural biotechnology, and the book includes chapters on integrated pest management incorporating the scientific advances of ag-biotech (Chapter 16), weed control strategies using biotechnology (Chapter 17), GM technology as a tool for promoting green agriculture (Chapter 18), and the use of plants as biological factories (Chapter 19).

Generally speaking, Chapters 1 through 5 lay down the rationale for incorporation of ag-biotech in food production, and chapters 6 through 15 explain the how to, the ins and outs of the technology and how genetic modification of crops is achieved. Also, chapters 6 through 15 cover all the standard topics one would find in a regular course on agronomy, crop science and plant biology, from plant cell and molecular biology, plant growth and development, seeds and seed technology, the ins and outs of photosynthesis and the physical, biological and environmental factors associated with it, soils and root zone systems, nitrogen cycling, to the historical basis for crop breeding (with some paleo-anthropological perspectives) and the gradual leap from breeding via classical techniques to modern, biotech based methods. Chapter 15 also looks at crop disease and its management from a molecular genetic standpoint, and strikes me as a means to include students in plant pathology.

Additionally, the authors paid considerable attention to the problems and challenges of agriculture in Third World countries, in an attempt to demonstrate the veracity of their belief that GM technology can do much to assist the inhabitants there. However, in the process, they belatedly demonstrate that these technologies have been developed to address symptoms of more complex and fundamental problems having an economic, environmental and/or socio-historical basis. Yet, the authors must be credited for admitting that the real need in developing countries is for more research support to address their specific physical and environmental conditions, and for demonstrating that in every single instance where consumer incomes rise and the socio-economic status of women advances, there is an inevitable decrease in birth rates, hunger and malnutrition.

Thus, the contributors freely admit that their research and scientific activities chase phantom problems and non-problems. They also admit, albeit obliquely, that ag-biotech in its current manifestation does not address the needs or the fundamental problems faced in the developing or the developed world. In fact, on the one hand, researchers have occupied themselves with testing the limits of GM technology, seeing what they can do, and exploring different directions, while on the other hand, government institutions and corporations have directed their efforts at technological developments for which they have proprietary control, and increasingly, total control over distribution and other supporting activities. Alas, the authors have chosen, perhaps unwisely, to offer any comments on this state of affairs, and what it may mean for everyone.

In sum, this book makes quite a few bold admissions, some directly, but most indirectly, and as such, is a necessary read for those interested in the topics of ag-biotech, genetic modification technologies, food production and safety, and crop science in general. It is definitely a good and comprehensive book, containing a level of honesty highly uncommon among textbooks on the subject(albeit couched among questionable pitches about potential benefits of ag-biotech), and its sources for further reading are indispensable. I highly recommend the text to anyone looking to place this contentious scientific topic within a social and ethical context.

Editorial Review:

This textbook is intended for introductory courses in agriculture, plant biology, and economic botany. It is about plants, genes, food and people, and about the changing relationship between them. The purpose is to show how agriculture is changing throughout the world, and to discuss the role that genes and genetic engineering are playing in this change.

Healthy Crops: A New Agricultural Revolution

Francis Chaboussou

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Clears up a lot of misunderstandings 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Good book for understanding how agriculture really works. You can get the gist of it in a few overview pages or delve deeply.

Editorial Review:

This work powerfully asserts the idea that rather than using pesticides, the key to helping crops resist attacks from pests is to improve their strength through natural processes. Many of industrial agriculture's fundamental principles for fighting disease, in particular the reliance on pesticides and fertilizers, are explained and convincingly challenged and a new set of guiding principles for an ecological agricultural system are presented as a genuine alternative to the widespread use of chemicals.

Soil Quality and Agricultural Sustainability

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Editorial Review:

Soil degradation causes a shrinking of arable land resources, and the persistence of starvation and malnutrition. The depletion is compounded by the increasing populations of developing tropical nations, and the conversion of agricultural land to other uses. As a result, per capita grain harvesting and irrigated land is in steady decline all over the world.The decrease in horticultural resources and productivity has inspired Soil Quality and Agricultural Sustainability, which is based primarily on papers presented at the 1996 conference on soil degradation, sponsored by Ohio State University, the USAID and the International Agricultural Research Centers. The book addresses itself to six concerns: basic concepts and global issues, nutrient and water inputs, soil quality management in Asia, in Africa, and in the Tropical Americas, and future priorities. The Editor's goal is a new paradigm in soil quality research: a multidisciplinary approach. He proposes that an erosion management program include soil scientists, hydrologists, climatologists, sedimentologists, geographers, agronomists, agricultural engineers, land use planners, economists, anthropologists and social scientists. Lal advocates an optimistic, forward-thinking brand of soil science that concentrates on conservation and fertility. The 26 chapters explore what Lal considers to be the priorities: agricultural sustainability, soil quality, food security, quality restoration, long-term management, and the failure to adopt new technology. In sum, they paint a comprehensive portrait of the current state, and future prospects, for worldwide agronomic viability.

Maize Genetics and Breeding in the 20th Century

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New Diagnostics in Crop Sciences (Biotechnology in Agriculture Series)

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Editorial Review:

This book describes the theory and practical aspects of a number of "diagnostic" techniques that have evolved over recent years to assess variety, yield, quality and stress by pathogens or environment pre- and post harvesting of crops. Useful diagnostic methods can be based on molecular probes such as antibodies or gene probes, physical methods based on spectroscopy or by simplifying and refining long-established enzymological approaches. A systems approach is taken, leading from diagnostic methods for the whole plant and its soil environment, to the chromosome, gene and molecular protein levels. Aspects of harvested crop quality and purity can also be rapidly assessed by physical or chemical diagnostic methods. Some of the diagnostic methods will remain for the foreseeable future as being suited only to a limited number of well-equipped laboratories, others can have immediate application, possibly in the form of test kits in the field. Some progress and constraints in making diagnostic methods widely available either commercially or through research collaborations are discussed. Authors from Europe, North America and Australasia share their expertise on an exciting variety of technologies which will take plant agriculture into the next century.

Cryopreservation of Plant Germplasm II (Biotechnology in Agriculture and Forestry)

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Editorial Review:

This volume highlights achievements in cryopreservation, chronicles method development, and describes relevant literature. The provided detailed information helps practitioners develop and improve methods for desired species. The volume is divided into four parts:
I Cryopreservation of Germplasm;
II Herbaceous Plants: Barley, celery, chamomile, chicory, garlic, ginseng, hop, horseradish, mint, taro, wasabi;
III Woody Species: Coffee, Eucalyptus, guazuma, horsechestnut, neem, olive, poplar oak, Prunus, Ribes, rose.
IV Australian Species.
Initially, cryopreservation was driven by the concern for loss of diversity of crops essential for continued improvement of the many plants used for food, health, and shelter. The interest has been expanded by conservationists and their concerns for retaining the diversity of natural populations.