The Gene Hunters (eBook)

Biotechnology and the Scramble for Seeds

Calestous Juma (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF

2014
Princeton University Press (Verlag)
978-1-4008-6025-8 (ISBN)

Infos

The world is on the verge of receiving new life forms that will profoundly and irrevocably change the global economy: the "gene hunters" who first cloned the gene in 1973 are now not only modifying existing species but also creating new plants and animals. Ready or not for such awesome power, the human race has put itself in a position to govern evolution. What will we do with the abilities we now command? asks this broad and stimulating book on the role of plant material in economic development. Writing in a style that is easily understandable even to those with no background in biotechnology, Calestous Juma begins by showing how the importation of plants strengthened the British Empire and brought the United States to global agricultural superiority. He goes on to explore the current international competition for genetic material and the potential impact of biotechnology on the relationship of the developed and developing world. Juma points out that biotechnology poses real dangers to the third world. Often one of the few exportable resources that a developing country possesses is an unusual or rare crop, but biotechnological techniques make possible the cultivation of many such crops outside their natural habitats, potentially eliminating the need to import the crops from the countries in which they grow indigenously. After discussing the threat of biotechnology, Juma comes full circle and points out that it does not have to be a threat. Actually, tremendous benefits could accrue to the third world from biotechnology--if and only if that new technology is adapted to its needs.Originally published in 1989.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 14.7.2014
• Reihe/Serie: Princeton Legacy Library
• Reihe/Serie: Princeton Legacy Library
• Verlagsort: Princeton
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Wirtschaft
• Schlagworte: Adzuki bean • Agave • Agriculture • Agriculture (Chinese mythology) • Agrochemical • Aleurites moluccanus • alfalfa • Amaranth grain • Barley • Biotechnology • breadfruit • cabbage • Camellia • Carl Peter Thunberg • Cashew • Cassava • CGIAR • Chemical Industry • Cinchona • clove • Comparative Advantage • Crop diversity • Date Palm • Disruptive innovation • Economic Botany • Economic Growth • Economics • Eragrostis tef • expansionism • Fertilizer • Food and Agriculture Organization • Friedrich Welwitsch • Gene bank • genetic diversity • germplasm • Green Revolution • Hatch Act of 1887 • Helianthus annuus • Hevea brasiliensis • horticulture • Hybrid seed • Inbreeding • industrial production • Institution • International Development Research Centre • International Institute of Tropical Agriculture • International Rice Research Institute • International Trade • Joseph Paxton • Joseph Schumpeter • lettuce • luther burbank • Lysine • Maize • Mass production • Michel Adanson • monoclonal antibody • Nathaniel Wallich • Nikolai Kondratiev • Norman Myers • oat • Onion • Opuntia ficus-indica • pecan • Pesticide • Phaseolus vulgaris • Plant Breeding • Plant genetics • Plant Patent Act of 1930 • Plant variety (law) • Primary sector of the economy • Processing (Chinese materia medica) • Public sector • quinine • Quinoa • radish • ramie • raw material • Reforestation • Requirement • Scientist • seed company • sorghum • Sorghum bicolor • soybean • Sugar beet • Sugarcane • Supply (economics) • sweet potato • Technological Change • Technology • Triticale • UNESCO • United Nations development programme • united nations environment programme • United States Department of Agriculture • Vegetable • Vicia faba • Wardian case • Wheat
• ISBN-10: 1-4008-6025-3 / 1400860253
• ISBN-13: 978-1-4008-6025-8 / 9781400860258