Food for Africa

Erscheinungsjahr 2013
ISBN: 978-1-920499-81-5
Verlag: UCT Press

Buch, Englisch, 190 Seiten, Paperback, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 228 mm, Gewicht: 249 g

An advisor to world leaders and economists on genetically modified food as the answer to food security in Africa, Jennifer Thomson traces through anecdote and science the development of a hotly contended area of research, from the dawn of genetic engineering in the USA in 1974, through the early stages of its uptake in South Africa to the current situation in which approximately 80% of maize in South Africa is genetically modified for drought resistance. Through her own story of how she came to choose GM as a career and her path-breaking involvement in the development of GM research, she describes the spread of this technology into other parts of Africa and her venture into unknown territory to develop crops resistant to drought, insects and viruses, and looks to a future in which staple crops may be grown in difficult conditions by smallholder farmers and help Africans achieve food security.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Thomson, Jennifer

Über Autor(innen)

Professor Jennifer Thomson is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of Cape Town and was Head of the Department of Microbiology at the University of Cape Town from 1988 to 2000. She won the L’Oreal/UNESCO prize for Women in Science for Africa in 2004 and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Sorbonne University, Paris, in 2005. Her main research interests are the development of maize resistant to maize streak virus and tolerant to drought. Her books include Genes for Africa: Genetically Modified Crops in the Developing World (UCT Press, 2002) and Seeds for the Future: The Impact of Genetically Modified Crops on the Environment (Cornell University Press and CSIR Press, 2006).