High Tech Harvest: Understanding Genetically Modified Food Plants [Paperback]

Paul Lurquin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 13, 2004

Genetically engineered plant products line the shelves of our grocery stores, but we don't know which ones they are because no label identifies them. Should we be concerned? It is true that biotech companies are saying that engineered corn and canola are safe, but are they telling the truth? In High Tech Harvest, Paul Lurquin answers these questions and more, believing that the public has a right to know and understand how its food is manipulated at the most basic level, that of the DNA itself. With the goal to inform, and a mission to reinforce the importance of the scientific method, Paul Lurquin writes a comprehensive and user-friendly description of the scientific origins, the development, and the applications of genetically modified plants throughout the world today. Lurquin argues that only with an understanding of the basic science can people make informed and reasonable decisions about genetically modified foods.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Biologist Lurquin wants people to understand the scientific foundations of the current controversy over enhancing the quality and quantity of the world's food supply through genetic engineering. As Lurquin points out, humans have practiced genetic manipulation since prehistory when the first farmers crossbred grains to begin the practice of agriculture. He explains in great detail the nineteenth-century discoveries of Gregor Mendel that established the science of genetics. Since Mendel, researchers have gone on to uncover the fundamental chemical structures of cells. This knowledge has given birth to the field of genetic engineering, whereby technicians transfer genes wholesale from one species to another, affording massive new possibilities in plant production. Lurquin doesn't view these new techniques as intrinsically unsound, and he opposes wholesale condemnation of genetic engineering. This book's focus on scientific issues as opposed to political posturing gives it a substantive voice in the current noisy debate over genetic manipulation of the foods we all eat. Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"...[a] fascinating book." -- Choice

"A highly needed contribution to inform the general, interested public on the controversial subject of genetic engineering of plants." -- Diter von Wettstein, Washington State University

"Important ammunition in the present public debate about GMO's." -- Lazlo Marton, University of South Carolina

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 236 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (April 13, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813341752
• ISBN-13: 978-0813341750
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,125,470 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I'm an agronomist, August 11, 2007

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Dalton C. Rocha (Fortaleza, CE, Brazil.) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: High Tech Harvest: Understanding Genetically Modified Food Plants (Paperback)

I'm a jobless agronomist.I read this good book, here in Brazil.This book is concise and easy to understand.It isn't only for agronomists or farmers.It is also for general public.Even the language is for the general public.
Failures of this book are small.To example, on page 146, this book has this sentence:"For example, the once-powefull insecticide DDT lost its effectiveness a long time ago".In fact DDT didn't lost its effectiveness.The DDT's ban came , because DDT was saving "too much" lifes in Africa, Asia and other places with colored races.
The small chapter about plastics from GMO, tells that they are too expensive compared to oil.Well, when this book was writen, oil had a price smaller than the half , compared to oil's price of today.Even with oil at so big price, plastics from transgenics costs too much; at least for general aplications.Agriculture can produce plastics without the use of GMO.If you have a biodigestor, you will have methan(CH4).Then almost all oil and natural gas plastics can be produced using this gas.