Cross Contamination of Brassica Napus
INTRODUCTION
Brassica Napus is a bright yellow flowering rapeseed that can be used to create biodiesel, animal feed and vegetable oils. As of 2009, over 90% of Brassica Napus was genetically modified to make it disease and drought resistant. The high rate of the genetic modification of this crop is due to the increased yields of the crops which in turn lead to higher economic returns for the farmers producing the Brassica Napus. (Beckie, 2011). Although the genetically modified version of this species does have many economic advantages to the producer, worldwide a sizable margin of the consumers of this products are opposed to consuming genetically modified organisms. This is why it is important to know which crops of the Brassica Napus are genetically modified and which are the organic plants so the consumer can make an informed decision. In this experiment we discussed a scenario where a neighboring farm producing genetically modified Brassica Napus could have potentially contaminated the organic Brassica Napus farm. It is important for an organic farm owner to know if their crops are contaminated …show more content…
These included the mother, offspring, and the two potential fathers. One of the father plants were taken from the GMO farm, while the other came from the organic. DNA was extracted using the methodology outlined in the Practicing Biology for Biology 151 lab manual. The samples were then placed in a thermal cycler and the desired target sequence of DNA was amplified. In the final week of lab, the DNA was analyzed using an electrophoresis reaction in Agarose gel. This was done according the the instructions outlined in the Practicing Biology for Biology 151 lab manual. Finally the gel was placed under a source of UV light which allowed the DNA sequences to appear on the gel. A photograph was then taken to be further
INTRODUCTION
Brassica Napus is a bright yellow flowering rapeseed that can be used to create biodiesel, animal feed and vegetable oils. As of 2009, over 90% of Brassica Napus was genetically modified to make it disease and drought resistant. The high rate of the genetic modification of this crop is due to the increased yields of the crops which in turn lead to higher economic returns for the farmers producing the Brassica Napus. (Beckie, 2011). Although the genetically modified version of this species does have many economic advantages to the producer, worldwide a sizable margin of the consumers of this products are opposed to consuming genetically modified organisms. This is why it is important to know which crops of the Brassica Napus are genetically modified and which are the organic plants so the consumer can make an informed decision. In this experiment we discussed a scenario where a neighboring farm producing genetically modified Brassica Napus could have potentially contaminated the organic Brassica Napus farm. It is important for an organic farm owner to know if their crops are contaminated …show more content…
These included the mother, offspring, and the two potential fathers. One of the father plants were taken from the GMO farm, while the other came from the organic. DNA was extracted using the methodology outlined in the Practicing Biology for Biology 151 lab manual. The samples were then placed in a thermal cycler and the desired target sequence of DNA was amplified. In the final week of lab, the DNA was analyzed using an electrophoresis reaction in Agarose gel. This was done according the the instructions outlined in the Practicing Biology for Biology 151 lab manual. Finally the gel was placed under a source of UV light which allowed the DNA sequences to appear on the gel. A photograph was then taken to be further