Biotechnology Genetically Engineered Soybeans Essay

Biotechnology Genetically Engineered Soybeans - Essay Example This alleviates the need for same species to induce the genetic changes which can be transmitted in the subsequent progenies. The other specific feature of this technology is possibility of ignoring reproductive compatibility within the species with an accelerated generation of new progenies with the induced phenotypic and genotypic characters. It is to be considered that genetic engineering enables scientists to introduce the DNA fragments of a foreign organism into a plan through an entirely artificial way, which could be naturally imprecise and has all probability of being unpredictable, despite being unique (Stacey et al., 2004). The soybean is considered a major source of protein in human and animal nutrition, and it is also a source of vegetable oil. Soybean is also considered to be an economically important legume, However, naturally there are many variations in the phenotype of the seed, and this is prominent in seed weight. The bean in soybean is unique since it accumulates high levels of protein and oil, and a typical soybean seed has been reported to contain 40% of protein and 20% of oil by weight. Therefore the propensity of a larger size of seed and weight would ensure that protein and oil per seed can be considerably increased if the weight of the seed could be increased by any means (Clemente and Cahoon, 2009). To start with genetic modification of soybean was accomplished to achieve herbicide tolerant soybeans since these led to improved yields and reduced use of pesticides. Specifically, the advantages of herbicide tolerant soybeans were improved weed control, significant reduction of soil erosi on the crop fields, reduction in injury to the crop, and reduced cost on fuels. Therefore, the intention of this genetic modification was to lead to improved crops. Historically, crop varieties that resist diseases have been preferred by cultivators due mainly to their improved quality characteristics. One such example is genetically engineered soybeans that are tolerant to nonselective herbicides such as glyphosphate. Foliar administration of herbicide glyphosphate can kill soy plants, and as a result genetically engineered glyphosphate tolerant soybeans was a choice immediately since during growing season, glyphosphate may considerably reduce the yield (Qin and Lynne, 2007). This specific breed would allow the farmers to use glyphosphate to control weeds yet not lose on the crop yield. Specific Alteration The specific alteration involves introduction of a single gene in the commercial soybeans. This resulted in high level of glyphosphate tolerance to the soybean plants. A single gene encoding the glyphosphate tolerant 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase was introduced in the soybean genome. This was derived from Agrobacterium Sp. Strain CP4. 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase is known to be present in plants and bacteria as a component of shikimate pathway to synthesize aromatic amino acids. Glyphosphate tolerance locus could be identified in the glyphosphate tolerant locus in GTS 40-3-2, which had been studied to be a stable and simple dominant trait that can be transferred across generations through

Choose a business firm and discuss What is consumer's perception about Term Paper

Choose a business firm and discuss What is consumer's perception about the firm and its product - Term Paper Example Apple Inc This paper chooses Apple Inc for the study of consumer’s perception about goods, because Apple Inc has emerged to be one of the most successful and powerful brands around the world. It is an American based multinational company that designs and produces computers, peripherals, digital players, phones and software etc with greater emphasis on innovation and technology, and markets them through own-retail outlets, online stores and third party sellers (Sander and Slatter, 2009, p. 81). Apple Inc always thrived on innovation (Kerin, Hartley and Berkowitz, 2005, p. 395) especially through on-going product and brand differentiation. The relentless efforts of Apple to focus on ease of use, simplicity, utility, efficiency and fun has helped the company make its new variants of products such as iPhone, iPhone-3G, iPhone- 4-G etc to be very different species than that of its competitors (Newsweek, 2007). Consumers of Apple products expect unique values and technology advantag es from Apple’s computers as well as its digital players and phones. The company is very particular about the value propositions and almost all of its efforts including R&D are meant to satisfy consumers’ expectation of values and innovation. ... l different factors that may impact the perception, the real experiences of consumers after using or buying a product brings the true perception in their minds. Miller, Miller and Miller (2007, p. 16) described that a consumer’s perception about a company or its offerings is based on their past experiences with the company or its offerings, companies that offer similar products or services, and information they have got from friends, family and colleagues. Consumers almost always compare the values, benefits and general features of two or more similar products and services and this comparison in turn form perception in their minds. It is thus closely related to brand positioning and brand image. Consumers’ perception about Apple and its products Though there are discussions regarding Apple’s brand image and consumers’ perception before and after the resignation of its founder Steve Jobs (Hughes, 2011), one thing remained constant that Apple is well known f or its technology. Until 1990s, Apple was costing on borrowed technology, but Steve Jobs realized that a company cannot stay long on ‘technology leader’ strategy without becoming a technology creator. After 1997, Apple made four segmentations of its products and innovated in the way it produced and marketed its products (Betz, 2002, p. 194- 195). As Hoskisson, Hitt and Ireland (2008,p. 133) noted, Apple’s market effort was to develop computers and other offerings that are highly differentiated with help of latest technology. The product differentiation strategy that has implemented has thus created a unique history of its own through very distinctive products ever-available in the market such as iMac, iBook, iTune, iLife, iMusic, iPad, iPod, iPhone and so on. The company approached its market and