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Research in animals and plants is frequently 'departmentalized' and funded according to Kingdoms by granting bodies. The use of transgenes to address biological questions in all Kingdoms led us to propose to the Royal Society that fundamental and strategic studies in animals and plants involving trans genes should be presented in one meeting, rather than, as so often happens, in different scientific societies. The two-day Discussion Meeting held inJuly 1992, and reported here provided insights into how trans genes are being exploited to discover new knowledge in animals and plants. The papers were presented by leading investigators in the biological sciences, and the book reflects an experiment in interdisciplinarity which was declared a successful venture by the large crowd of participants and delegates. The transgenic area is one of high scientific interest and sporadic, yet intense biotechnological euphoria. This is dramatically illustrated among the following papers which show how genetic maps of animals and plants produce new knowledge of disease incidence in humans, and how the design of transgenes can result in biodegradable plastic in higher plants, human pharmaceutical proteins in livestock, or bacterial proteins in cotton crops to protect against insect damage.
List of contents
Overview: Progress in Genome Mapping.- 1 Genetic maps.- Sex Determination and Embryo Formation.- 2 The regulation of sexual development in plants.- 3 Sex determining gene expression during embryogenesis.- Epigenetic Variation.- 4 The inheritance of germline-specific epigenetic modifications during development.- 5 The germinal inheritance of epigenetic information in plants.- Gene Switches and Control of Development.- 6 The regulation of human globin gene switching.- 7 Gene regulation of flowering.- Overview: Progress in Plant Genome Analysis and Modification.- 8 New opportunities to dissect and manipulate plant processes.- Stem Cell Manipulation.- 9 Genome manipulation in embryonic stem cells.- Genetic Enhancement of Organisms by Gene Insertion.- 10 Gene transfer therapy for heritable disease: cell and expression targeting.- 11 Enhancing the efficiency of transgene expression.- 12 Improved agronomic and quality traits in transgenic crops: recent advances.- Transgenic Investigations of a Disease.- 13 Transgenic investigations of prion diseases of humans and animals.
Report
Resulting from the Royal Society Discussion Meeting held in July 1992, this volume provides insights into how transgenes are being exploited to discover new knowledge in animals and plants. |o Book News |d May 1994
