Cloning and the Green Revolution

March 15, 2008

History 199
 The First Green Revolution
 The Green Revolution is the name of the
phenomenon of modifying agriculture using
molecular means in order to improve yield.
 This method was propagated by Norman
Borlaug.
 Increased output of Agriculture in the
Countries of Mexico and India in the 1960s
and 1970s.
 The First Green Revolution
 This method utilized the usage of pesticides,
fertilizer, and improved techniques of
irrigation.
 Used the process of “natural selection” to
select for the most efficient strains of plants
to be used for crops.
 Crops with favorable traits such as
resistance to disease and high yield were
selected for.
Downfalls of First Green Revolution
 The pesticides used were found to harm
both the plants and the animals that
ingested these plants, including humans.
 DDT (Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane) is
a major example of a pesticide that
negatively affects humans and animals.
 It has been shown to cause reproductive
harm, has been linked to cancer, and other
illnesses.
DDT
Downfalls of First Green Revolution
 Another downfall to this technique is that it
takes a long time (~months to years) and
must be done in the field.
 It is inefficient as the results are often
irreproducible and the productive strains can
be lost.
 The Second Green Revolution
 The second revolution focused more on
genetic manipulations to create more
productive strains of plants.
 This could be done in the laboratory rather
than in the field.
 Results were reproducible and easily done.
 Traits like taste, yield, resistance to virus
and disease could be selected for.
 The Second Green Revolution
 This was a very
efficient technique that
could produce results
rapidly (~few weeks)
 Genetic Manipulation
 You can alter the genes at the nucleotide
level.
 All of the genomes of multicellular terrestrial
organisms are encoded in the form of DNA.
 DNA is made up of a varying sequences of
the nucleotide bases Adenine(A),
Guanine(G), Thymine(T), and Cytosine(C).
 Central Dogma of Biology
 DNA is transcribed into RNA
where it is translated into a
functional proteins.
 Proteins are responsible for
most of the characteristics that
organisms exhibit including
functionality, taste, and other
qualities.
 Cloning
 These concepts are not as controversial in
plants as they are in animals because this
type of genetic variation and manipulation
occurs in plants naturally.
 This occurs in animals to a much smaller
scale and over evolutionary time (millions of
years).
 History of Cloning
 In 1938 the German scientist Hans
Spemann proposed a method to transfer
one cell's nucleus into an egg without a
nucleus which is the basic method for
cloning.
 In 1972 Paul Berg created the first
recombinant DNA molecules.
 History of Cloning
 In 1973, Cohen and Boyer applied this method
and create the first recombinant DNA organisms.
 In 1977, Karl Illmensee claims to have created
mice with only one parent.
 In 1978, David Rorvik releases a book, In His
Image: The Cloning of a Man, which sparked a
worldwide debate on cloning ethics.
 History of Cloning
 In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that live, human
made organisms are patentable material.
 In 1984, Steen Willadsen, a Danish scientist, reported that
he had made a genetic copy of a lamb from early sheep
embryo cells a process now known as "twinning.“ This
method will eventually be used on cattle, pigs, goats,
rabbits and rhesus monkeys.
 In 1986, Steen Willadsen clones cattle from differentiated
cells.
 In 1986, First, Prather, and Eyestone clone a cow from
embryo cells.
 History of Cloning
 In 1990, the Human Genome Project began, which
aimed at sequencing the entire human genome.
 In 1996, Dolly the sheep became the first animal
cloned from adult cells; this was not announced
until a year later.
 In 1997, President Bill Clinton proposed a five year
moratorium on cloning.
 History of Cloning

 In 1997, the same scientists who produced Dolly

announced that they had produced a lamb with a
human gene in every cell of its body using
techniques similar to those used to produce Dolly.
 In 1997, Richard Seed announced his plans to
clone a human.
 In 1998, Japanese scientists reported that they
had cloned eight copies of a single cow, the third
mammal to be cloned.
 History of Cloning
 In 1998, a hybrid embryo created from human leg
cells and anucleated cow egg was created; it was
not developed due to ethical issues.
 In 2000, a Rhesus monkey was cloned.
 In 2000, Britain became the first country to grant a
patent for cloned early-stage human embryos.
Geron Corporation, which received the patent,
said that it did not have the intention of creating
cloned humans.
 History of Cloning
 In 2000, the group that created Dolly the
sheep announced that they cloned pigs;
there was hope that pigs could be
genetically engineered for use in human
organ transplants.
 In 2003, a mule and a horse were cloned.
 In 2003, the FDA released a study and
approved the public consumption of cloned
meat.
 Potential of Cloning
 Can be used to prevent hunger and
increase crop yield in Mexico, Latin
America, and the rest of the world.
 Can be used to treat human disease
through the study and utility of stem cells.