Genetic engineering is changing the terrain of development studies. Technologies with unprecedented potential - the capacity to move genes across species - have created widely politicized phenomena: ‘Frankenfoods’, ‘GMOs’, and ‘The Terminator’. En masse, the public has reacted with equanimity or appreciation to genetically engineered pharmaceuticals, beginning with insulin, but transgenics in food and agriculture have raised a globally contentious politics. This book begins with the needs of the poor - for income, nutrition, environmental integrity - and evaluates the theory and evidence for contributions from transgenic crops. Social scientists with expertise in regional studies, economics, sociology, agriculture and political science join biologists to bring specialized knowledge on genuinely new questions created by the genomics revolution; questions of: ecological integrity biodiversity international trade the costs and effectiveness of biosafety protocols. The authors collectively conclude that predictions of disaster for the poor from transgenic technology are uninformed by empirical results, rest on misunderstandings of biotechnology or the poor or both, or get the science wrong. Yet the triumphalism of pro-transgenic forces, however, must be tempered by serious unanswered questions: much is unknown, but the transgenic genie is out of the bottle. In this much-needed book, an emergent empirical literature allows scholars in disciplines ranging from micro-biology to economics and political science to assess the potential effects of transgenic organisms on poverty through multiple dynamics of property, yields, prices, biodiversity, environmental integrity and nutrition.

This work will focus on three themes, namely identifying new sources of growth for agriculture, making agriculture more effective for poverty reduction, and managing the transitions that accompany the transformation of agriculture as economies develop.

Medicinal Biotechnology: Methods and Applications covers a wide range of topics from traditional herbal medicine to recent plant and animal biotechnology approaches used for the production of vaccines, hormones, enzymes, edible medicinal products, herbal therapeutics, and other secondary metabolites. The book opens with a historical perspective of medicinal biotechnology which includes a discussion of successive development in the field of medicine, starting from early civilization up to current and advanced approaches and strategies. The book also provides a wide range of topics that include: a discussion engineering approaches in medicinal biotechnology, metabolomics, extraction of metabolites, personalization approaches, and strategies for the effective use of medicinal product and drugs; explanation of engineering approaches in medicinal biotechnology, metabolomics, extraction of metabolites, personalization approaches, and strategies for the effective use of medicinal product and drug; and coverage of specific knowledge on the production and use in vaccines, antibodies, and hormones. - Provides a discussion of the traditional medicine system and the role of herbs - Discusses plant and animal tissues culture/engineering approaches used to produce medicinal products such as vaccines, antibiotics, and hormones - Highlights the discussion of topics related to DNA profiling, genome editing, synthetic biology, bioprospecting, metabolomics, personalized medicine, and intellectual property rights in relation to the medicinal product - Emphasizes the therapeutic potential of edible plant products and herbal therapeutics for chronic disease management

During the past 15 years, cellular and molecular approaches have emerged as valuable adjuncts to supplement and complement conventional breeding methods for a wide variety of crop plants. Biotechnology increasingly plays a role in the creation, conservation, characterization and utilization of genetic variability for germplasm enhancement. For instance, anther/microspore culture, somaclonal variation, embryo culture and somatic hybridization are being exploited for obtaining incremental improvement in the existing cultivars. In addition, genes that confer insect- and disease-resistance, abiotic stress tolerance, herbicide tolerance and quality traits have been isolated and re-introduced into otherwise sensitive or susceptible species by a variety of transgenic techniques. Together these transformative methodologies grant access to a greater repertoire of genetic diversity as the gene(s) may come from viruses, bacteria, fungi, insects, animals, human beings, unrelated plants or even be artificially derived. Remarkable achievements have been made in the production, characterization, field evaluation and commercialization of transgenic crop varieties worldwide. Likewise, significant advances have been made towards increasing crop yields, improving nutritional quality, enabling crops to be raised under adverse conditions and developing resistance to pests and diseases for sustaining global food and nutritional security. The overarching purpose of this 3-volume work is to summarize the history of crop improvement from a technological perspective but to do so with a forward outlook on further advancement and adaptability to a changing world. Our carefully chosen “case studies of important plant crops” intend to serve a diverse spectrum of audience looking for the right tools to tackle complicated local and global issues.

For centuries, TK has been used almost exclusively by its creators, that is, indigenous and local communities. Access to, use of and handing down of TK has been regulated by local laws, customs and tmditions. Some TK has been freely accessible by all members of an indigenous or local community and has been freely exchanged with other communities; other TK has only been known to particular individuals within these communities such as shamans, and has been handed down only to particular individuals of thc next generation. Over many generations, indigenous and local communities have accumulated a great deal of TK which has generally been adapted, developed and improved by the generations that followed. For a long time, Western anthropologists and other scientists have generally been able to freely access TK and have documented it in their works. Still, this TK was only seldom used outside the indigenous and local communities that created it. More recently, however, Western scientists have become aware that TK is neither outdated nor valueless knowledge, but, instead, 1 can be useful to solve some of the problems facing today's world. Modem science, for example, has shown an increased interest in some fornls ofTK as knowledge that can be used in 4 research and development (R&D) activities and be integrated in modem innovations. This holds especially true for TK regarding genetic resources, which has been integrated in modem 6 phannaceuticals,s agro-chemicals and seed.

Contains case studies illustrating the cell culture production of pigments, flavors, and antineoplastic compounds Plant Biotechnology and Transgenic Plants covers topics that range from food to fragrances to fuel. It includes discussions of technologies and research on the engineering, synthesis, utilization, and control of primary and secondary plant metabolites such as carbohydrates, amino acids, lipids, polymers, proteins, and phytochemicals for industrial, pharmaceutical, and food and feed applications. The editors put the emphasis on recent methods in farming, plant propagation, and breeding and modern procedures to formulate more effective biopharmaceuticals.

Social movements have played a vital role in Indian politics since well before the inception of India as a new nation in 1947. During the Nehruvian era, from Independence to Nehru's death in 1964, poverty alleviation was a foundational standard against which policy proposals and political claims were measured; at this time, movement activism was directly accountable to this state discourse. However, the role of social movements in India has shifted during the last several decades to accompany a changed political focus—from state to market and from reigning ideologies of secularism to credos of religious nationalism. In the first volume to focus on poverty and class in its analysis of social movements, a group of leading India scholars shows how social movements have had to change because poverty reduction no longer serves its earlier role as a political template. Nonetheless, particular sectors of social movement politics remain the holding vessels for India's egalitarian conscience. With distinctive chapters on gender, lower castes, environment, the Hindu Right, Kerala, labor, farmers, and biotechnology, Social Movements in India will be attractive to students and researchers in many different disciplines. Contributions by: Amita Baviskar, Anuradha Chakravarty, Vivek Chibber, Gopal Guru, Patrick Heller, Ron Herring, Mary John, Mary Fainsod Katzenstein, Neema Kudva, Gail Omvedt, Raka Ray, and Tanika Sarkar.