Tag Archives: bacterium

How genetic modification is done: 1. Agrobacterium

Posted on August 30, 2015 by argylesock

Genetic modification (GM, genetic engineering) for eukaryotes matters because we humans are eukaryotes and we use eukaryotes. As you know, eukaryotes have nucleated cells. Among the eukaryotes we eat angiosperms (flowering, fruiting plants), herbivores which eat them, and predators which … Continue reading →

Posted in knowledge transfer | Tagged Agrobacterium tumefaciens, bacterium, biotechnology, Bt crop, cotton, crop, eukaryote, prokaryote | 3 Comments

Roundup weedkiller and Roundup Ready crops

Posted on June 9, 2014 by argylesock

The world’s most popular weedkiller is called Roundup. It’s used in gardens, on farms and in public places. Many of the world’s most popular genetically modified (GM, genetically engineered) crops are called Roundup Ready. You can spray these crops with … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, ecology, horticulture, knowledge transfer | Tagged Africa, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, America, Asia, bacterium, Bayer, biotechnology, crop, Europe, farm, garden, genetic modification, glyphosate, herbicide, herbicide resistance, history, International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications, Monsanto, patent, pesticide, pesticide resistance, plant_dicot, plant_gymnosperm, plant_monocot, Roundup, Roundup Ready crop, Syngenta, trade, weed | 12 Comments

Feature: Protecting the pollinators part 2 – bees and disease

Posted on April 21, 2014 by argylesock

argylesock says… Here’s the second of three articles about pollinators, from the Wellcome Trust blog, which I’m passing on today.

Posted in agriculture, ecology, miniculture | Tagged apiculture, arachnid, arthropod, bacterium, bumblebee, conservation, data, deformed wing virus, dipteran, disease, disease transmission, emerging disease, fungus, habitat loss, honeybee, hoverfly, hymenopteran, insect, insecticide, mite, miticide, Nosema ceranae, parasite, pesticide, pollination, research, scientist, Varroa destructor, Varroa destructor virus-1, vector, virus | Leave a comment

GMO breakthroughs and fakethroughs

Posted on March 19, 2014 by argylesock

It can be difficult to know who to believe about genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The scientific peer review system is no guarantee of truth, nor are the news media, nor are blogs like this one. Jonathan Latham of the US-based … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food, knowledge transfer | Tagged academia, bacterial rice leaf blight, bacterium, banana, biofortification, biotechnology, cassava, development, disease resistance, genetic modification, Golden Rice, grain, International Rice Research Institute, knowledge, Monsanto, nutrition, oral vaccination, pathogen, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, politics, research, rice, staple food, sustainable, sweet potato, tuber, vaccine, virus | 1 Comment

GM apples

Posted on January 18, 2014 by argylesock

When apple (Malus domestica) fruits are cut or bitten, we all know that the cut surfaces turn brown. To stop this happening, here’s a range of genetically modified (GM, genetically engineered, GE) apples called Arctic apples. Ordinary apples turn brown … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, horticulture, knowledge transfer | Tagged Agrobacterium tumefaciens, apple, apple Arctic, arthropod, bacterium, biotechnology, breeding, food processing, fruit, fruit variety, gene silencing, genetic modification, grocery, insect, law, pest, pH, plant_dicot, tree | 7 Comments

What’s infecting England’s cows with TB? Is it badgers, or farmers and climate change?

Posted on January 10, 2014 by argylesock

Originally posted on vetsbeyondreason:
Found at http://www.eenews.net/stories/1059991389. Erica Rex, E&E Europe correspondent ClimateWire: Friday, December 6, 2013 “There’s no security, or peace and tranquility, except underground.” — Badger, from “The Wind in the Willows” by Kenneth Grahame NEWENT, Gloucestershire, England…

Posted in agriculture, ecology | Tagged bacterium, badger, bovine tuberculosis, cattle, disease, disease reservoir, disease transmission, farmer, livestock, mammal, Mycobacterium bovis, Paterson_Owen, politics, shooting, transport, vertebrate, wildlife | Leave a comment

Bt crops

Posted on December 8, 2013 by argylesock

The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA) does what its name says it will do. Among other things, it promotes genetically modified (GM, genetically engineered, GE) crops. On the other side of this heated debate, GM Watch … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, human health, knowledge transfer | Tagged academia, arthropod, aubergine, bacterium, biotechnology, bird, brinjal, Bt crop, Bt toxin, corn, crop, crop variety, eggplant, evolution, feed, food, food safety, genetic modification, human, insect, insecticide, insecticide resistance, knowledge, livestock, maize, maize 1507, mammal, Monsanto, organic, pest, pesticide, pesticide resistance, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, research, staple food, vegetable, vertebrate, wildlife | 10 Comments

Getting rid of bovine tuberculosis?

Posted on November 30, 2013 by argylesock

A farmer in my family told me, ‘People want clean meat.’ Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is an infectious disease of cattle (Bos primigenius) caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium bovis. Our UK Government wants rid of bTB, because then the European Union … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, money and trade | Tagged bacterium, badger, biosecurity, bovine tuberculosis, cattle, Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, disease, disease reservoir, disease testing, disease transmission, farmer, food safety, law, livestock, mammal, milk, Mycobacterium bovis, native species, notifiable disease, politics, ruminant, trade, tuberculosis, vertebrate, wildlife, zoonosis | 6 Comments

Badger cull to end early in Gloucestershire

Posted on November 29, 2013 by argylesock

People with guns have been out shooting badgers (Meles meles) in Gloucestershire. This was one of the ‘pilot culls’ supposed to get rid of some of the badgers which, say some, are a reservoir of the bacterium Mycobacterium bovis which … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, ecology | Tagged bacterium, badger, bovine tuberculosis, cattle, data, Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, disease, disease reservoir, livestock, mammal, Mycobacterium bovis, Paterson_Owen, politics, shooting, vertebrate, wildlife | 4 Comments

What the British government is doing about bovine tuberculosis

Posted on November 28, 2013 by argylesock

Did you think I’d stopped thinking about bovine tuberculosis (bTB)? I haven’t and nor has our Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). Here are two announcements from DEFRA today. First announcement: There’s to be ‘zero tolerance’ of missed … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture | Tagged bacterium, biosecurity, bovine tuberculosis, cattle, Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, disease, disease testing, disease transmission, farmer, Heath_David, law, livestock, mammal, Mycobacterium bovis, notifiable disease, politics, ruminant, transport, tuberculosis, vertebrate, zoonosis | 1 Comment