Assignment task: review the articles below.
Safety and Advantages of Bacillus thuringiensis-Protected Plants to Control Insect Pests
Safety and Advantages of Bacillus thuringiensis-Protected Plants to Control Insect Pests Fred S. Betz,* Bruce G. Hammond,† and Roy L. Fuchs† *Jellinek, Schwartz and Connolly, Washington, DC; and †Monsanto Company, St. Louis, Missouri 63198
Please read the article above and answer the following questions:
Q1. What does the Cry family of proteins specifically do to a target organism? Does this affect any organism that consumes the Cry protein? What is required in the host in order for this protein to be toxic?
Q2. What were the specific goals or aims of the researchers for this current paper?
Q3. What are the key findings shown in Table 2 of this paper? Why is this significant and what does it tell the reader? Are the results the same for every crop shown?
Q4. What is the key finding shown in Table 3 of this paper? Why is this significant and what does it tell the reader? Are the results the same for every crop shown?
Q5. In general did cotton farmers benefit or face hardship from the usage of Bt cotton crops in the mid to late 1990's? Was there a net gain or loss of crop production, and how much more or less cotton was produced?
How much money was estimated by the authors to be lost or generated?
Q6.Has this paper indicated that any scientific studies have been performed to validate the safety of Bt crops on humans? If so, what studies have been performed? Have there been any negative effects of GMO crops found (as reported by this paper)?
Q7. A common way to verify whether an agent of interest is toxic to an animal or person is to administer very large amounts of the agent to see if there are any resulting ill effects. Was this type of work mentioned in this paper, and if so, what? Hint: try to answer question 11 below first, and look to table 6.
Q8.Using corn as an example how much corn would a person have to eat to mimic the high dosage of Cry protein examined in the study mentioned by the authors? Were any toxic effects found? hint: try to answer question 11 below first and look to page 165.
Q9.What crops other than corn were mentioned in this paper to have been extensively studied for toxic effects?
What animals were used in these studies? What were the results of these studies? Were any toxic effects found?
Q10. Does this paper mention any ecological effects of Cry protein use in Bt crops, and if so what are the findings? What organisms were investigated and/or mentioned in the ecological assessment of Bt crop usage?
What does this indicate about the continued use of Bt crops in the environment?
Q11.What does NOEL and how does it relate to questions 7 and/or 8?
Q12. The authors discuss at least 5 important safety components of all Bt crops. Briefly describe any 2 of them.
Q13.The authors summarize the key benefits of Bt crops with at least 5 important "selling points" for their use in a commercial environment. Briefly describe any 2 of them.