Donald D. Bills – författare

Biotechnology and Food Safety provides information pertinent to practical biotechnological procedures for detecting and quantifying microbial and chemical contaminants of food. This book focuses on the application of biotechnology to food safety. Organized into five parts encompassing 24 chapters, this book begins with an overview of the tools of biotechnology that have numerous applications throughout the food chain. This text then explains the safety and regulatory issues associated with foods and food ingredients from genetically modified sources. Other chapters explain some considerations regarding the risk of using biotechnology in food and food animal production versus the risks incurred by avoiding such use. This book discusses as well the federal laws governing food and food ingredients, which are rigorously administered and enforced by the Food and Drug Administration. The final chapter deals with the use of transgenic organisms in industry. This book is a valuable resource for molecular biologists, plant and animal physiologists and pathologists, parasitologists, microbiologists, toxicologists, and food scientists.

Biotechnology and Food Quality focuses on the potential of biotechnology in quantitatively and qualitatively modifying agriculture. The selection first offers information on the benefits of agricultural biotechnology on developed and developing countries, food quality education, and food quality, biotechnology, and the food company. Discussions focus on consumer concerns, demographic and social changes, scope and future role of food quality, and improvement of agricultural raw materials and processed foods. The manuscript then underscores how to make technology transfer work and the regulatory considerations of biotechnology. The text examines the characterization and modification of maize storage proteins; genetic modification of traits of interest to consumers and processors; and omega-3 fatty acid improvements in plants. Topics include genetic engineering of fatty acid biosynthesis, cellular genetics, molecular biology, application of technology to food products, and genetic engineering of lysine-containing alpha zeins. Cell wall dynamics, prospects for the use of genetic engineering in the manipulation of ethylene biosynthesis and action in higher plants, and molecular interactions of contractile proteins are also elaborated. The selection is a highly recommended source of data for biotechnologists, agriculturists, and food experts.

An important aspect of successful agriculture is the control of plant diseases that reduce productivity, quality, and profitability. Application of exogenous chemicals and development of endogenous resistance are two general approaches to controlling plant diseases. As the former falls under continued attack and regulation, the latter fortunately becomes more achievable through biotechnology. Biotechnology and Plant Protection: Bacterial Pathogenesis and Disease Resistance explores the application of biotechnology to understanding bacterial pathogenesis and the nature of plant resistance to bacterial disease. More important, the information presented in this volume foreshadows the development of plants with increased native resistance to bacterial disease. Classical plant breeding has made great progress in developing resistant plants through largely empirical approaches, but a direct understanding of the genetic aspects of pathogenesis and resistance will accelerate the process.