Science and Mathematics Education Commons^™

Biological Pesticides: Biotechnology's Answer To Silent Spring, Donald H. Dean

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

In the 25 years since the publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring the public has come to realize the environmental impact of heavy use of chemical pesticides. To add insult to injury, many insects, including the disease vector, the mosquito, are now virtually resistant to standard chemical pesticides. Biotechnology is now providing a positive response to these dilemmas through the production and development of improved forms of microbial pest control agents: biological pesticides. Biological pesticides are pathogens, or predators, of insects such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses, and predatory insects or vertebrates such as mosquito fish which reduce the population …

Public Policy On The Introduction Of Genetically Engineered Microorganisms, Anne K. Vidaver

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

This presentation raises questions of research needs and issues. Underlying assumptions are that only beneficial or useful microorganisms will be "released"; that extensive laboratory and contained experiments will have been done prior to introduction and live microorganisms can be confined within the areas of introduction. Evidence to support these assertions will be presented. Critical needs for progress in this area include: 1) Recognition that the nature of the product introduced into the environment is of primary significance, not how the organism was genetically altered or modified. 2) Recognition that microorganisms are introduced into the environment as part of our daily …

Release And Behavior Of Recombinant Bacteria In Field Studies, Steven E. Lindow

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

Numerous opportunities exist for the utilization of genetically engineered microorganisms for useful purposes in agriculture and in waste management. An extremely diverse array of microorganisms is likely to be considered for such processes as biological control of plant pests, degradation of to toxic wastes, reclamation of rare metals and other processes. For some purposes, such as in the degradation of toxic materials, it may be possible to make biologically compromised microorganisms that will exist only in the presence of the toxic chemicals that they were designed to transform. A better understanding of the genetics, biology and physiology of microorgansims which …

Biotechnology: A Dilemma For Land-Grant Institutions, A. David Kline

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

There is at least a prima facie moral tension between universities asserting land-grant principles and simultaneously sponsoring biotechnology. The core of the problem is the likely deleterious economic effects of biotechnology on rural communities -- the very constituency whose welfare is supposedly promoted by land-grant institutions. Considered are a number of responses to this tension including efforts to show that the tension is only apparent or that it can be eliminated through various public policies. It is argued that these "solutions" fail.

The upshot is that if the land-grant label is to be taken seriously, those institutions should begin allocating …

Economic Changes From The Use Of Biotechnology In Production Agriculture, Loren W. Tauer

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS

The potential economic impact of biotechnology in production agriculture is discussed. There are challenges and difficulties in completing economic research when little production information is available on biotechnologies. I argue that little impact differences exist between cost-reducing versus output-increasing technological change. Rapid technological change results in low average returns in agriculture but continuous early innovators earn higher returns. Various plant and animal technologies are presented and discussed.