With the growing number of GMOs introduced to the market, testing laboratories have seen their workload increase significantly. Ready-to-use multi-target PCR-based detection systems, such as pre-spotted plates (PSP), reduce analysis time while increasing capacity. This paper describes the development and applicability to GMO testing of a screening strategy involving a PSP and its associated web...

More than 800 million people suffer from hunger in the world. Using modern plant breeding methods to generate so-called GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms), agricultural scientists have shown that crop yields and nutritional quality can be greatly improved. Many GMO varieties have been specifically developed with the aim of being resistant to pests, tolerant to drought and containing benefici...

Oligosaccharides have received considerable attention as prebiotics because they exhibit potential health benefits related to their ability modulate intestinal bacterial composition. This study evaluated the effects of galactomannan oligosaccharides (GMOS) derived from Gleditsia microphylla a prebiotic on human bacteria. The β-mannanase used for enzymatic hydrolysis GMOS was produced by Trichod...

Background Brazil is the second largest producer of genetically modified (GM) crops with 37 GM crop varieties approved by CTNBio for commercialization. One of these varieties is the Embrapa 5.1 common bean, resistant to the bean golden mosaic virus (BGMV). The Embrapa 5.1 event was developed using the RNAi concept to induce the silencing of the AC1 viral gene [1]. Labelling of food products con...

The high-redshift radio-loud quasar PKS 2126−158 is found to have a large number of red galaxies in close apparent proximity. We use the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) on Gemini South to obtain optical spectra for a large fraction of these sources. We show that there is a group of galaxies at z ∼ 0.66, coincident with a metal-line absorption system seen in the quasar’s optical spectrum...

There is growing concern among the general public and the scientific community regarding the potential toxicity of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The use of biotechnology to enhance pest resistance or nutritional value has raised a number of fundamental questions including the consequences of insertion of reporter genes, the spread of resistance genes to surrounding plants, and the use ...

The introduction of novel proteins into foods carries a risk of eliciting allergic reactions in individuals sensitive to the introduced protein and a risk of sensitizing susceptible individuals. No single predictive test exists to perform a hazard assessment in relation to allergenic properties of newly expressed proteins in gene-modified organisms (GMOs). Instead, performance of a weighted ris...

The Gemini Multiobject Spectrograph (GMOS) installed on the GeminiNorth telescope has a facility for integral field spectroscopy over the wavelength range 0.4−1.0μm. GMOS is converted to this mode by the remote insertion of an integral field unit (IFU) into the beam in place of the masks used for multiobject spectroscopy. With the IFU deployed, integral field spectroscopy is available over a fu...

Like any technology, agricultural biotechnologies that use genetically modified organisms (gMOs) have their opponents and supporters. For their proponents, the significant benefits of gMOs for humans, animals and the environment clearly outweigh any risks that are inherent with new technologies ( Jauhar, 2006; reis et al, 2006). For example, crops could be genetically engineered to grow more qu...

Ensuring foods are correctly labelled for ingredients derived from genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is an issue facing manufacturers, retailers, and enforcement agencies. DNA approaches for the determination of food authenticitys often use the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and PCR products can be detected using capillary or gel electrophoresis. This study examines the fitness for purpos...