Genetic Modification of Plants

Today´s agriculture faces new and difficult challenges. With modern methods widely applied, it is commonly believed that genetic crop improvement is a key for increasing yields. In spite of the discussion about the safety of genetically modified (GM) crops that is still raging in the European Union where the take-up of the new technology is more limited, the cultivation of GM plants and crops has exploded all over the world.Conceived with the aim of sorting fact from fiction over GM crops, this volume brings together the knowledge of 30 specialists in the field of transgenic plants. It covers the generation and detection of these plants as well as the genetic traits conferred on transgenic plants. In addition, the book looks at a wide variety of crops, ornamental plants and tree species that are subject to genetic modifications, assessing the risks involved in genetic modification as well as the potential economic benefits of the technology in specific cases. The book's structure, with fully cross-referenced chapters, gives readers a quick access to specific topics, whether that is detailed and comprehensive data on particular species of ornamentals, or coverage of the socioeconomic implications of GM technology. With an increasing demand for bioenergy, and the necessary higher yields relying on wider genetic variation, this book supplies all the technical details required to move forward to a new era in agriculture.