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Genetic Engineering (Teacher Edition)
Book Chapter |
This chapter focuses on genetically engineered foods. Bt corn has bacterial genes that encode a protein toxic to many insects. Therefore the corn plant makes its own pesticide. This chapter explores the DNA basis for…
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Sweet Genes in Corn (Teacher Edition)
Book Chapter |
This chapter begins with consideration of sugars made by the plant during photosynthesis and the movement of those sugars within the plant by diffusion along concentration gradients and by other processes. By exploring…
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Centers of Diversity (Teacher Edition)
Book Chapter |
This chapter discusses genetic diversity of food plants in the context of the geographic regions from which they originate. The center of origin is the site where the plant was domesticated. The center of diversity is…
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Quantitative Traits (Teacher Edition)
Book Chapter |
This chapter begins with single-gene Mendelian traits and compares them to quantitative traits where many genes are involved in determining phenotype. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) studies use molecular markers to…
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Bitterness and Non-Bitterness in Cucumbers: A Story of Mutation (Student Edition)
Book Chapter |
The bitterness of cucumbers is caused by a protein called cucurbitacin. The protein is found in the stems and leaves of many cucumber plants and this is why some people remove the skin and seeds before eating them. The…
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Survival Strategies (Student Edition)
Book Chapter |
Plants are part of complex ecosystems. They must defend themselves from predators. They also must compete with other plants for light, soil, nutrients, and water. Over time, plants have evolved many strategies for…
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Domestication: Evolving Toward Home (Student Edition)
Book Chapter |
Domestication is literally the process of bringing an organism—animal or plant—into the home. It's easy to see the evolution from wild wolf to docile dog as domestication. A domesticated plant is one that is dependent…
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The Risks of Improvement: Genetic Uniformity and an Epidemic (Student Edition)
Book Chapter |
In 1970, an epidemic swept through corn crops in the United States. The farmers alleged that the seed companies had behaved irresponsibility in releasing corn varieties that all had the same gene for T-cytoplasm, and…
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Genetic Engineering (Student Edition)
Book Chapter |
Genetically engineered crops cross boundaries that traditional crops do not and pose new and challenging regulatory issues. In the United States, a number of government agencies regulate food, plants, pesticides, and…
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Sweet Genes in Corn (Student Edition)
Book Chapter |
One of the joys of summer is sweet, fresh, crisp corn on the cob. Most corn is starchy and usually does not taste sweet. Why isn't corn on the cob starchy? What makes sweet corn sweet? Find the answers in this chapter…
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Centers of Diversity (Student Edition)
Book Chapter |
What country do you think is the origin of the tomato? In this chapter, tables and graphs are used to understand the relationship between food plants and the biomes they originated in. Plant centers of origin are…
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Quantitative Traits (Student Edition)
Book Chapter |
This chapter focuses on Quantitative trait loci (QTL) studies—a way of investigating quantitative traits where many genes have an effect on a trait. The studies help plant breeders find the genes involved in…
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Book Chapter |
Galileo's track is made from one long continuous rail that joins two different angled ramps together. The first ramp has a short, steep slope. After a ball rolls down the first ramp, it will then roll up a longer gently…
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Book Chapter |
In the demonstration in this chapter, a person holds a large foam board and a small brass weight to compare their respective weights. After hefting both objects for a few moments, the person is asked to determine which…
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Book Chapter |
This chapter features small wooden or cardboard boxes that hang about 5 feet from the ceiling on a short length of string. A second string comes out of the bottom of the boxes. The purpose of the boxes is not…
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