Genetically modified (GM) or transgenic crops, now more often called ``Biotech crops{\crqq} they are commercially cultivated since 1996. And also since 1996, the first year of commercialization of biotech crops, GM potatoes were cultivated in USA, Mexico, Canada and later in South Africa, China and India. The global area of approved biotech crops in 2006 was 102 million hectares and 22 countries grew biotech crops, 11 developing countries and 11 industrial countries. The Czech Republic is on of the six EU countries where biotech crops are cultivated at present. The most compelling case for biotechnology, and more specifically biotech crops, is their capability to contribute to: increasing crop productivity and stability of productivity and production; conserving biodiversity, as a land-saving technology; the production of renewable resource based bio-fuels. This diploma paper was focused on developing of fast, precise and cheap method based on PCR to detect the presence of transgenes in potatoes {--} tubers and leaves, allows monitoring the presence of GM potatoes in market, environment, etc. and to quantify ``contamination{\crqq} of ware potatoes (tubers) with GM ones.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-02-26T14:53:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 CamilaMenotti.pdf: 488119 bytes, checksum: f9bc062e60f29ca4d54e972920747193 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-03-23 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This work presents the faunistic comparative analyses of the species of floral visitors insects, collected by manual capture means on cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) crop, in two fields: the conventional non-Bt cotton crop DeltaOpal® - MDM, and the transgenic Bt-cotton crop NuOpal® Bollgard®- MDM. The experiment was carried out in the city of Maracaju, state of Mato Grosso do Sul (MS), Brazil. This research aimed to survey the composition of the floral visitors in the different cotton treatments, during the crop flowering period, to assess the impact of Bt cotton on the insect fauna of flower visitors. Thus, 1,310 floral visitors were captured, being 741 of them obtained on the Bt-cotton, and 569 on the non-Bt cotton. From those insects collected in the treatment Bt, were found some individuals belonging to the following Orders: Hymenoptera (24 species), Diptera (22 species), Coleoptera (14 species), Lepidoptera (12 species), and Dermaptera (1 species). On the other hand, on the non-Bt crop were obtained insects from four Orders, such as, Hymenoptera (32 species), Diptera (27 species), Coleoptera (15 species) and Lepidoptera (10 species). The species of insects were most abundant between 9h and 10h a.m, and there was a significant difference in the composition of species. The variance analysis showed that the number of species varied significantly during the flowering period, regardless of the cotton cultivars. The composition of the floral visitors species varied according to the period of flowering, and according to the cotton cultivar. The most common species were: Apis mellifera (Linnaeus, 1758), Cycloneda sanguinea (Linnaeus, 1763), Ichneumonidae Genus A sp., Scymnus (Scymnus) sp., Anticarsia gemmatalis (Hubner,1818), Heliothis virescens (Fabricius,1781), Pseudoplusia includens (Walker,1857), Pyralidae genus A sp., Eriopis connexa (Germar,1824), Diabrotica sp., Colaspis joliveti (Bechyné,1955), Hippodamia convergens (Guérin-Méneville,1842) and Allograpta exotica (Wiedemann,1830). / Este trabalho apresenta as análises faunísticas comparativas das espécies de insetos visitantes florais, coletadas por meio de captura manual em cultivo comercial de algodão Gossypium hirsutum L.. Os dados foram obtidos em um cultivar Convencional não-Bt DeltaOpal® - MDM, e um transgênico Bt NuOpal® Bollgard®- MDM, cultivados em Maracaju, Estado do Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil. O objetivo da pesquisa foi verificar as diferenças na comunidade de visitantes florais entre o cultivar convencional e o transgênico durante o período de floração da cultura, para avaliar o impacto do algodão Bt sobre a fauna de insetos visitantes florais. Foram capturados 1.310 visitantes florais, 741 no algodoeiro Bt, e 569 no algodoeiro não-Bt. Dos insetos coletados no algodão Bt, foram Encontrados indivíduos pertencentes as Ordens Hymenoptera (24 espécies), Diptera (22 espécies), Coleoptera (14 espécies), Lepidoptera (12 espécies) e Dermaptera (1 espécie). No algodoeiro não-Bt, coletaram-se insetos pertencentes a Hymenoptera (32 espécies), Diptera (27 espécies), Coleoptera (15 espécies) e Lepidoptera (10 espécies). As espécies de insetos foram mais abundantes nos horários das 9h:00min e 10h:00min da manhã, havendo diferença significativa na composição de espécies. A análise de variância revelou que o número de espécies variou significativamente entre os dias de floração, mas não entre os cultivares de algodão. O número de espécies teve uma diferença significativa durante o período de floração e de acordo com o tipo de algodão. As espécies mais abundantes foram Apis mellifera (Linnaeus, 1758), Cycloneda sanguinea (Linnaeus, 1763), uma espécie de Ichneumonidae, Scymnus(Scymnus) sp., Anticarsia gemmatalis (Hübner,1818), Heliothis virescens (Fabricius,1781), Pseudoplusia includens (Walker,1857),uma espécie de Pyralidae, Eriopis connexa (Germar,1824), Diabrotica sp., Colaspis joliveti (Bèchyne,1955 ), Hippodamia convergens (Guérin-Méneville,1842) e Allograpta exotica (Wiedemann,1830)

A presente tese investiga como o Ambiente Institucional influencia o modo de governança de direitos de propriedade e a estratégia das firmas. O estudo divide-se em duas partes. A primeira parte empreende uma investigação teórica que se constitui em três etapas. Primeiro, examina-se o modelo de direitos de propriedade de Barzel (1994, 1997, 2003). Segundo, analisa-se uma abordagem de estratégia competitiva baseada em direitos de propriedade (Property Rights Perspective; Foss e Foss, 2001). Especificamente, argumenta-se que tal abordagem representa uma extensão do modelo de Barzel e demonstra-se que os conceitos introduzidos na etapa anterior possibilitam uma formulação mais geral da Property Rights Perspective, conduzindo a uma definição de estratégia competitiva que concilia as noções de strategizing e economizing (Williamson, 1991). A terceira etapa, por fim, examina particularmente o estabelecimento de estratégias de proteção de direitos de propriedade. Um modelo heurístico baseado em Williamson (1996) é proposto e com base nele três formas básicas de proteção são definidas em função da qualidade do Ambiente Institucional: estratégia centrada no sistema legal, no estabelecimento de mecanismos privados e no abandono de atributos valiosos. A segunda parte da pesquisa busca evidências empíricas que suportem o modelo teórico. O estudo examina três casos de proteção de direitos de propriedade sobre a tecnologia transgênica em sementes de soja: EUA, Brasil e Argentina. Cada um dos casos representa, respectivamente, uma forma de proteção de direitos como definido pelo modelo heurístico. A pesquisa examina também evidências econométricas que consolidam a análise empírica. De forma geral, o presente estudo desenvolve uma abordagem para o exame da apropriação de valor, colocando-se na interface entre a Economia de Direitos de Propriedade, o estudo da Estratégia e a análise do Ambiente Institucional. / The current thesis investigates how the Institutional Environment influences the mode of governance of property rights and the strategy of firms. The study is divided into two parts. The first part undertakes a theoretical investigation consisting of three steps. In the first step, the author examines the model of property rights developed by Barzel (1994, 1997, 2003). In the second step, an approach to competitive strategy based on property rights (Property Rights Perspective, Foss and Foss, 2001) is analyzed. Specifically, the author states that this approach represents an extension of Barzels model and demonstrates that the concepts introduced in the previous step allow a more general formulation of the Property Rights Perspective, leading to a definition of competitive strategy that reconciles the notions of strategizing and economizing (Williamson, 1991). The last step examines particularly the establishment of strategies for protection of property rights. A heuristic model based on Williamson (1996) is proposed and three strategies for protection of property rights are defined in terms of the quality of the Institutional Environment: strategy based on the legal system, on the establishment of private mechanisms, and on the abandon of valuable attributes. The second part of the research seeks empirical evidence to support the theoretical model. The study examines three cases of protection of property rights on genetically modified (GM) technology in soybean seeds: the US, Brazil, and Argentina. Each case represents, respectively, a strategy as defined by the heuristic model. The research also examines econometric evidence that consolidate the empirical analysis. Overall, the current study develops an approach for examining the appropriation of value, placing itself in the interface between the Property Rights Economics, the study of Strategy, and the assessment of the Institutional Environment.

Mosquitoes spread diseases that shorten and worsen the lives of many people, chiefly children in poor countries, around the world. Since Ronald Ross' discovery at the end of the nineteenth century that mosquitoes transmit malaria, field entomologists have collected a great deal of information about mosquito ecology. Despite this tremendous effort, there still remain significant gaps in our knowledge of mosquito ecology, in part, reflecting the significant variation in mosquito ecology across species and geographies. The main aim of this thesis is an attempt to synthesise the substantial information that field entomologists have collected on mosquito lifespan. In Chapters 2 and 3, I conduct meta-analyses of the two predominant approaches used to estimate mosquito lifespan: mark-release-recapture experiments and female mosquito dissection-based studies, respectively. These analyses produce estimates of mosquito lifespan by species and genus, and more broadly, allow for an appraisal of these two experimental approaches. In Chapter 4, I describe a recently developed approach, known as near-infrared spectroscopy, which enables estimation of the age of individual mosquitoes, and then perform an in silico analysis to explore the use of this technology for estimating the average lifespan of wild populations of mosquitoes. The emergence of mosquito resistance to the main insecticides used in vector control, along with the concerning recent discovery that the malaria parasites in Asia are becoming resistant to arteminisin - an important drug used to treat malaria - highlight the need for novel approaches to control disease transmission. Some recently-proposed approaches involve genetic modification of the mosquito vectors, for example, to render them incapable of acting as hosts for disease or to reduce their fecundity. In Chapter 5, I model the impact of a release of mosquitoes carrying a genetic construct known as a homing endonuclease, which has been constructed to bias the sex of mosquito offspring towards males, in computational environments that capture some facets of the real life landscapes where mosquito borne disease is rife. About a century ago, the famous Italian Malariologist Giovanni Grassi declared that malaria was a "giant with clay feet"; reflecting the optimism, in some academic circles at the time, that eradication of this terrible disease would soon occur. Unfortunately, a century of often unsuccessful attempts to control and eradicate malaria, and other mosquito borne diseases, would follow Grassi's statement, meaning that this fight is likely to continue throughout the twenty-first century. We now know much more about mosquitoes and mosquito borne disease than we did a generation ago, but there is still crucial information that we do not. In this thesis, I argue that in order to make significant inroads to disease eradication, further research on mosquito ecology is crucial. Only when we better understand our unwitting mosquito foe, can we design and implement effective disease control measures that are so desperately needed in those most desperate parts of the world.

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La investigación es relevante ya que la gran rapidez en la producción y el consumo de productos OVM, hace que sea necesaria la realización de un estudio adecuado sobre la inadecuada regulación de estos productos en relación al derecho a la información y a la salud del consumidor. Así entonces, la investigación busca analizar sobre todo las implicancias de los OVM en los derechos del consumidor a la información y a la salud, teniendo en cuenta que, los OVM que más se comercializan, comprenden el grupo de alimentos más utilizados por los consumidores como el maíz, la soja, el trigo y el arroz, entre otro más. De modo que, la adopción de garantías de tutela para la gran cantidad de consumidores del mercado peruano es una situación de urgente y necesaria atención. Esta característica de estos productos, es decir su carácter de constituir productos de comercio masivo, hace necesario desarrollar un trabajo mediante el cual se pueda determinar que existen deficiencias en la protección de los derechos a la información y a la salud de los consumidores respecto a los OVM. / Tesis

With the introduction of antibiotics in animal feed becoming less popular, the agricultural industry has begun a shift towards the use of probiotics in animal feed. Since there is no current method to evaluate the risks of using genetically modified probiotics in animal feed. The goal of this project was to create a genetically modified model organism for risk assessment. The genetic marker for that was chosen was GFP that was to be expressed on the surface of the cell. The fluorescent properties allow for visualisation of the genetically modified bacteria and the surface expression would allow for the easy capture and recovery of the bacteria for culturing and cell counts. Genome wide screens were performed using the CW PRED algorithm to locate proteins with LPXTG motif for cell wall anchoring. 16 hypothetical proteins were detected and 6 were selected as candidates for possible surface display of GFP. Of these candidates, the novel L. casei protein LSEI_2320 was found to be expressed at the mRNA during early growth by RT PCR and at then protein level during stationary phase with western blot. This LPXTG protein was found at the surface of L. casei ATCC334 during stationary phase and late stationary phase with immunofluorescence microscopy. A genetically modified L. casei ATCC334 was constructed using the surface protein LSEI_2320 locus as a region for recombination with the pRV300 suicide plasmid. Genetic modification of the locus by the insertion of a GFP reporter region just before the predicted signal peptide site resulted in the abrogation of the expression of LSEI_2320 from the cell surface at the late stationary phase. It appears that this particular gene is not necessary to cell survival even though it is abundantly expressed on the cell surface and can be used as a location for genetic modification in L. casei ATCC334.

Thesis is concentrated on two biotechnologies: biofuels and genetically modified crops. Defines technical and economical characteristics, lists international agreements and czech and european legislation regarding both biotechnologies. Introduces opinions and analyses positions of selected political subjects as UNO, WTO, OECD, EU, catholic church and main czech political parties.

This thesis deals with promoting of the interests in the area of genetically modified organisms. The aim is to analyze the activities of interest groups in the area and affect different approach of governments to GMO in the USA and Europe. The work is structured into four parts. The first chapter theoretically defines interest groups and lobbying. The second chapter is devoted to genetically modified organisms and the differences between the EU and the USA in the legislation, the extent of cultivation and the approach of governments. The third chapter deals with Monsanto - the company that dominates the amount of interest groups in this area. The fourth chapter presents a case study of the problem of genetically modified maize in Europe. Just on the case of genetically modified maize can be seen in the European Union activities interest groups, approach of member states and European Union approach.

Trade Facilitation Indicators have become important mechanisms of monitoring the ease of trade. Another issue of rising concern is the pervasive debate on genetically engineered organisms and the development of Genetically Engineered Restrictive Index to evaluate its implications on trade. With regards to these, the objective of the United States Trade Representative is to eliminate implicit trade barriers. Hence, this study examines the impact of TFIs on U.S. agricultural export and its efficiency. From the results, a 1% increase in destination’s Genetically Engineered Restrictive Index leads to a US$ 9,426.82 and US$ 74,268.04 decline in corn and soybean exports while wheat experiences a US$ 26,204.05 increase. The ‘I-State’ paradox was also revealed from the efficiency rankings. This research recommends that GE labelling policies should be synchronized to match the requirements of the destination countries. Furthermore, information on GE foods must be transparent and disseminated to change destinations’ negative perception.