(August 2003) The cultivation of plants is an important aspect of today’s society in many ways. Not only do plants supply us with a major food resource and flow of nutrition but they are also an important source of chemicals and other non-food products such as drugs, oils, latex, pigments, and resins [3]. Because of the high value of plants, farmers are constantly trying to increase the yield and quality of their products by using more effective production techniques. The physical appearance of plants is determined by genetic factors that are inherited from parental crops. The natural transfer of genes…

(August 2003) Plants rank as one of the most important species on our planet. As primary producers, plants are at the base of the food chain for most terrestrial ecosystems, with nearly all land animals depending on them on as a source of food. The significance of plants as the basis of the food chain has not gone unnoticed by humanity. As a result, the field of plant science has blossomed with intellectual gains. Our understanding of the structure of plants, how they function, and what they do for us, growing daily. This article is an introduction for anyone interested…

(August 2003) Even before the creation of transgenics, the alteration of crops to improve their production was performed through selection. In fact, this selection has been going on for thousands of years and only in the past few centuries has it become a dedicated science onto itself. So, why has there been a push to switch from selection to the use of genetic techniques (transgenics) to improve crops over the recent decades? Simply put, to manipulate plants through selection takes many generations (i.e. large investments of time) and does not always work. Through the use of transgenics, one can produce…

(August 2003) As the population expands there has been increasing concern over whether current rates of food productions can support the growing population. In response to the increasing demand, scientists and farmers have been working hard to come up with new ideas to meet these needs. These ideas range from simple procedures including selection of the best seeds to more complex procedures requiring the transplantation of genes into different plant species. This article focuses on one of the important aspects of plant science which is the growth of plant cells in an artificial media. This process is known as plant…