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Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Acronyms -- Introduction -- 1 Agricultural Biotechnologies on the Farm and around the World -- 2 The Coming of the Third Regime? Agricultural Biotechnology Regulation in Canada and the United States -- 3 Biotechnology on the Prairies: The Rise of Canola . . . -- 4 . . . And the Fall of Wheat -- 5 Legal Offense and Defense on the Canadian Prairies -- 6 From When Cotton Was King to King Monsanto -- 7 Starting a New Regime: Training the Locals -- 8 Conclusion -- Appendix: Log of Interviews -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

With the comprehensive understanding of microorganisms and the rapid advances of physiochemical engineering and bioengineering technologies, scientists are advancing rationally‐engineered bacteria as emerging drugs for treating various diseases in clinical disease management. Engineered bacteria specifically refer to advanced physiochemical or genetic technologies in combination with cutting edge nanotechnology or physical technologies, which have been validated to play significant roles in lysing tumors, regulating immunity, influencing the metabolic pathways, etc. However, there has no specific reviews that concurrently cover physiochemically‐ and genetically‐engineered bacteria and their derivatives yet, let alone their distinctive design principles and various functions and applications. Herein, the applications of physiochemically and genetically‐engineered bacteria, and classify and discuss significant breakthroughs with an emphasis on their specific design principles and engineering methods objective to different specific uses and diseases beyond cancer is described. The combined strategies for developing in vivo biotherapeutic agents based on these physiochemically‐ and genetically‐engineered bacteria or bacterial derivatives, and elucidated how they repress cancer and other diseases is also underlined. Additionally, the challenges faced by clinical translation and the future development directions are discussed. This review is expected to provide an overall impression on physiochemically‐ and genetically‐engineered bacteria and enlighten more researchers. Engineered bacteria specifically refer to advanced physiochemical or genetic modifications of diagnostic bacteria, which can compensate for the shortcomings of natural strains. After engineering, these diagnostic bacteria are encouraged to lyse tumors, regulate immunity and cellular communication such immune cells, influence metabolic pathways, withstand harsh environments, efficiently deliver cargos, reduce virulence and express exogenous proteins or molecular biosynthetic species, etc.

The recent invasion of Africa by fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, a lepidopteran pest of maize and other crops, has heightened concerns about food security for millions of smallholder farmers. Maize genetically engineered to produce insecticidal proteins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a potentially useful tool for controlling fall armyworm and other lepidopteran pests of maize in Africa. In the Americas, however, fall armyworm rapidly evolved practical resistance to maize producing one Bt toxin (Cry1Ab or Cry1Fa). Also, aside from South Africa, Bt maize has not been approved for cultivation in Africa, where stakeholders in each nation will make decisions about its deployment. In the context of Africa, we address maize production and use; fall armyworm distribution, host range, and impact; fall armyworm control tactics other than Bt maize; and strategies to make Bt maize more sustainable and accessible to smallholders. We recommend mandated refuges of non-Bt maize or other non-Bt host plants of at least 50% of total maize hectares for single-toxin Bt maize and 20% for Bt maize producing two or more distinct toxins that are each highly effective against fall armyworm. The smallholder practices of planting more than one maize cultivar and intercropping maize with other fall armyworm host plants could facilitate compliance. We also propose creating and providing smallholder farmers access to Bt maize that produces four distinct Bt toxins encoded by linked genes in a single transgene cassette. Using this novel Bt maize as one component of integrated pest management could sustainably improve control of lepidopteran pests including fall armyworm.

Collapsible soils have caused infrastructural damages resulting in several economic losses and loss of lives in certain cases. The prerequisite for collapse occurring is an open metastable structure; capable of developing in any soil type given the right placement or aging conditions. Natural and anthropogenic (engineered and non-engineered) collapsible soils exist in many regions of the world. In their unsaturated state, these soils exhibit high enough shear strength and stiffness (provided by inter-particle bonds of either suction, clay, calcium carbonate, or other salts) but upon wetting and/or loading they undergo repacking due to bond softening/weakening. This collapse of the soil structure leads to a rapid volume decrease and consequently associated issues such as rapid differential settlement, ground fissuring and landslides occur causing damages to civil structures, and loss of lives. Despite these threats and the large body of research available in this subject, there is still poor understanding of the process of softening/weakening and the collapse mechanism of certain bond in some collapse elements. The aim of this paper is to provide a state-of-the-art comprehensive review of the different types of collapsible soils, field, and laboratory methods of predicting and measuring their potential to collapse. This understanding is crucial for geotechnical characterisation of soils in order to design safe and economic infrastructures with their long-term serviceability also in focus.

Previous research has identified subjective and objective knowledge as determinants of consumers’ acceptance of genetically modified organisms (GMO) in the medical and food industries. In contrast to a large body of literature on the effects of attitudes or knowledge on food preferences, the extent to which consumers’ knowledge affects their valuation of non-GMO food producing plants (i.e., plants grown for food or ornamental purposes) is less understood. This manuscript investigates the relationship between consumers’ knowledge of relevant non-GMO certification programs and their acceptance and willingness-to-pay (WTP) for non-GMO plants. The first study used an Internet respondent panel and choice experiment, while the second study utilized an in-person experimental auction. In line with previously reported low public acceptance of genetically modified food products, respondents were receptive of and willing to pay premiums for non-GMO food producing plants. This study found that subjective and objective knowledge impacted the premiums for non-GMO labels, with the high subjective and low objective knowledge group generating the highest WTP. Low subjective and low objective knowledge resulted in the lowest WTP. Findings suggest a disconnect between subjective and objective knowledge of non-GMO certification programs, which in turn influences consumer valuation of those products.

Over the past two decades, there has been a shift in research and industrial practice, and products traditionally manufactured primarily from wood are increasingly combined with other nonwood materials of either natural or synthetic origin. Wood and other plant-based fiber is routinely combined with adhesives, polymers, and other \"ingredients\" to produce composite materials. Introduction to Wood and Natural Fiber Composites draws together widely scattered information concerning fundamental concepts and technical applications, essential to the manufacture of wood and natural fiber composites. The topics addressed include basic information on the chemical and physical composition of wood and other lignocellulosic materials, the behavior of these materials under thermocompression processes, fundamentals of adhesion, specific adhesive systems used to manufacture composite materials, and an overview of the industrial technologies used to manufacture major product categories. The book concludes with a chapter on the burgeoning field of natural fiber-plastic composites. Introduction to Wood and Natural Fiber Composites is a valuable resource for upper-level undergraduate students and graduate students studying forest products and wood science, as well as for practicing professionals working in operational areas of wood- and natural-fiber processing. For more information on the Wiley Series in Renewable Resources, visit www.wiley.com/go/rrs Topics covered include:  * Overview of lignocellulosic material, their chemical and physical composition * Consolidation behavior of wood and fiber in response to heat and pressure * Fundamentals of adhesion * Adhesives used to bond wood and lignocellulosic composites * Manufacturing technology of major product types * Fiber/plastic composites

Industrialisation, directly or indirectly, exposes humans to various xenobiotics. The increased magnitude of chemical pesticides and toxic heavy metals in the environment, as well as their intrusion into the food chain, seriously threatens human health. Therefore, the surveillance of xenobiotics is crucial for social safety and security. Online investigation by traditional methods is not sufficient for the detection and identification of such compounds because of the high costs and their complexity. Advancement in the field of genetic engineering provides a potential opportunity to use genetically modified microorganisms. In this regard, whole-cell-based microbial biosensors (WCBMB) represent an essential tool that couples genetically engineered organisms with an operator/promoter derived from a heavy metal-resistant operon combined with a regulatory protein in the gene circuit. The plasmid controls the expression of the reporter gene, such as gfp, luc, lux and lacZ, to an inducible gene promoter and has been widely applied to assay toxicity and bioavailability. This review summarises the recent trends in the development and application of microbial biosensors and the use of mobile genes for biomedical and environmental safety concerns.Graphic abstract

Evolution of insect resistance to transgenic crops containing Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) genes is a serious threat to the sustainability of this technology. However, field resistance related to the reduced efficacy of Bt maize has not been documented in any lepidopteran pest in the mainland U.S. after 18 years of intensive Bt maize planting. Here we report compelling evidence of field resistance in the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith), to Cry1F maize (TC 3507) in the southeastern region of the U.S. An F2 screen showed a surprisingly high (0.293) Cry1F resistance allele frequency in a population collected in 2011 from non-Bt maize in south Florida. Field populations from non-Bt maize in 2012-2013 exhibited 18.8-fold to >85.4-fold resistance to purified Cry1F protein and those collected from unexpectedly damaged Bt maize plants at several locations in Florida and North Carolina had >85.4-fold resistance. In addition, reduced efficacy and control failure of Cry1F maize against natural populations of S. frugiperda were documented in field trials using Cry1F-based and pyramided Bt maize products in south Florida. The Cry1F-resistant S. frugiperda also showed a low level of cross-resistance to Cry1A.105 and related maize products, but not to Cry2Ab2 or Vip3A. The occurrence of Cry1F resistance in the U.S. mainland populations of S. frugiperda likely represents migration of insects from Puerto Rico, indicating the great challenges faced in achieving effective resistance management for long-distance migratory pests like S. frugiperda.

Engineered probiotics are a kind of new microorganisms produced by modifying original probiotics through gene editing. With the continuous development of tools and technology progresses, engineering renovation of probiotics are becoming more diverse and more feasible. In the past few years there have been some advances in the development of engineered probiotics that will benefit humankind. This review briefly introduces the theoretical basis of gene editing technology and focuses on some recent engineered probiotics researches, including inflammatory bowel disease, bacterial infection, tumor and metabolic diseases. It is hoped that it can provide help for the further development of genetically modified microorganisms, stimulate the potential of engineered probiotics to treat intractable diseases, and provide new ideas for the diagnosis of some diseases or some industrial production.