The benefits of biotechnology

For centuries, aboriginal peoples have known the aspirin-like compound found in the bark of willow tree would ease pain. More recently, a random deposit of a fungus spore on a bacterial culture started Sir Alexander Fleming on the road to discovering penicillin. Although plants have always been a source of medicines, modern biotechnology has created a twist on what will be considered a medicinal plant. Today, scientists are using recombinant DNA technologies and common agricultural plants to produce a wide range of pharmaceutical compounds. These medicine-producing engineered plants are often called pharma-crops. Scientists have successfully inserted genes into barley, maize, carrots, tomatoes, alfalfa, bananas, rice and tobacco. The engineered genes range from those that code for proteins found in milk and tears, to potential vaccines. For more information please click "here":[ http://www.checkbiotech.org/root/index.cfm?fuseaction=search&search=biotechnology&doc_id=11772&start=1&fullsearch=0].

---