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The Biotechnology Resource Team provides leadership to the agricultural education community for the development of curriculum, dissemination of best practices, and the training of teachers in the science of biotechnology and its applications in agriculture.
Team Contacts
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Tough New Spuds Take on Double Trouble |
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Powdery scab and black dot can cause yield losses of up to 25 percent in potato crops and prevent tubers from reaching the sizes needed by the French-fry and fast-food industries. Now, five new potato breeding lines could lead to development of cultivars that are resistant to the fungal pathogens that cause both diseases. After screening a collection of wild and cultivated potatoes for sources of natural resistance to powdery scab and black dot, researchers developed the five advanced potato breeding lines from a wild species from Mexico, Solanum hougasii, and a recent commercial release, Summit Russet.
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Perspective on Agricultural Biotechnology from the USDA |
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Overview
Agricultural biotechnology has been advancing rapidly; and for all the promises it offers, it poses as many questions. Agricultural biotechnology is rewriting the rules in several key areas—agricultural research policy, industry structure, production and marketing, consumer preference, and world food demand—and public policy is struggling to keep up. Much of the current interest in biotechnology stems from the rapid diffusion in North America and other exporting countries, like Argentina, of genetically engineered (GE) crops such as cotton, soybeans, corn, and canola, and from the uneasy consumer response in Europe as compared with the United States.
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