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Mendel in the Kitchen - A Scientist's View of Genetically Modified Foods (Paperback, New ed)
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Mendel in the Kitchen - A Scientist's View of Genetically Modified Foods (Paperback, New ed)
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While European restaurants race to footnote menus, reassuring
concerned gourmands that no genetically modified ingredients were
used in the preparation of their food, starving populations around
the world eagerly await the next harvest of scientifically improved
crops. Mendel in the Kitchen provides a clear and balanced picture
of this tangled, tricky (and very timely) topic. Any farmer you
talk to could tell you that we've been playing with the genetic
makeup of our food for millennia, carefully coaxing nature to do
our bidding. The practice officially dates back to Gregor
Mendel-who was not a renowned scientist, but a 19th century
Augustinian monk. Mendel spent many hours toiling in his garden,
testing and cultivating more than 28,000 pea plants, selectively
determining very specific characteristics of the peas that were
produced, ultimately giving birth to the idea of heredity-and the
now very common practice of artificially modifying our food. But as
science takes the helm, steering common field practices into the
laboratory, the world is now keenly aware of how adept we have
become at tinkering with nature-which in turn has produced a
variety of questions. Are genetically modified foods really safe?
Will the foods ultimately make us sick, perhaps in ways we can't
even imagine? Isn't it genuinely dangerous to change the nature of
nature itself? Nina Fedoroff, a leading geneticist and recognized
expert in biotechnology, answers these questions, and more.
Addressing the fear and mistrust that is rapidly spreading,
Federoff and her co-author, science writer Nancy Brown, weave a
narrative rich in history, technology, and science to dispel myths
and misunderstandings. In the end, Fedoroff arues, plant
biotechnology can help us to become better stewards of the earth
while permitting us to feed ourselves and generations of children
to come. Indeed, this new approach to agriculture holds the promise
of being the most environmentally conservative way to increase our
food supply. Table of Contents Front Matter 1 Against the Ways of
Nature 2 The Wild and the Sown 3 The Power in the Earth 4 Genes and
Species 5 Tinkering with Evolution 6 Making a Chimera 7 The Product
or the Process 8 Is It Safe to Eat? 9 Poisoned Rats or Poisoned
Wells 10 The Butterfly and the Corn Borer 11 Pollen Has Always
Flown 12 The Organic Rule 13 Sustaining Agriculture 14 Sharing the
Fruits 15 Food for Thought Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Index
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