Question

Which of the following agricultural challenges cannot be solved with transgenic techniques?
A) Crops are damaged by frost or drought
B) Crops are damaged by insect pests
C) Public concern about safety of synthetic pesticides
D) Public preference for organic vegetables

Answer 1

Transgenic plants are plants that have had their genomes modified through genetic engineering techniques either by the addition of a foreign gene or removal of a certain detrimental gene.

Complete Answer:
Transgenic technique involves the combination of recombinant DNA technology, gene transfer methods and tissue culture techniques. This method has provided an efficient way of production of transgenics in a wide range of crop plants.
Most transgenic plants are created by the biolistic method or by Agrobacterium tumefaciens mediated transformation method. In the biolistic method, DNA, coated with tiny particles of gold or tungsten is shot into the plant tissue or single plant cells under high pressure. The DNA separates from the coated materials and integrates into the plant genome. In the second method, Agrobacterium tumefaciens are used which can infect the plant with its DNA. The plant tissue is incubated with Agrobacterium cells that carry a recombinant plasmid which has both a selectable marker and the desired transgene. When the Agrobacterium recognizes the plant cell, it passes the transfer DNA (tDNA) that carries the transgene into the cell. Plants that take up the T-DNA and express the selectable marker survive and proliferate to form the callus. The required growth regulators and nutrients are supplied into the culture for the plant to grow properly.
Plants are modified to get a better product than the original one. These crops are resistant to many diseases and pests, high product can be yielded in less time, they have increased tolerance to the changing environment, can be stored for a long time due to its increased resistance to spoilage etc.
Though it has many benefits, people are concerned about the effect of the foreign DNA present in that plant. And, as genetically modified plants are not completely organic in nature, they have not been able to resolve this problem.

Hence the correct option is option D, ‘Public preference for organic vegetables’.

Note: The main advantages of transgenic plants include larger yield, resistance to diseases and pests and capable of growing under stressful conditions, while their main disadvantages include allergic reactions, emergence of super-pests and loss of biodiversity.