Introduction to TechnologyChapter 15:
Agricultural BiotechnologiesChapter SummariesSection 15.1
Agriculture is a biotechnology because it is related to living things. It applied the principles of biology to create commercial products and processes. During the Industrial Revolution, people left the countryside to work in factories in the cities. Farmers began to rely on machinery. Breeding animals is part of agriculture. Plants and animals must be cared for, or maintained. Many farmers give animals antibiotics to protect them from disease. Section 15.2
Gregor Mendel discovered the basic principles of genetics by careful breeding of pea plants. In the past, improving a species of plant or animal was a slow process. Today improvement is more rapid with genetic engineering and closing. In some cases, genes from one organism are transplanted into another. The result is a transgenic plant or animal. Cloning is a process that produces an identical copy of a plant or animal. Section 15.3
Some crops, animals, and microbes have been genetically modified to produce drugs. This process is called “pharming.” Bioremediation is the use of bacteria and other organisms to clean up contaminated land and water. Biofuels are made from agricultural products, which can be a source of renewable energy. Artificial ecosystems include hydroponic, aquaculture, and agroforestry farms.  | 
