Food agriculture is a topic of great interest to farmers, consumers, scientists, educators, and many people of all ages. After all, all people and animals eat. Science and Our Food Supply: Exploring Food Agriculture and Biotechnology introduces science-based agricultural concepts of crop characteristics, planning, and selection.

This new curriculum introduces selective breeding and a subset of techniques commonly referred to as genetic engineering (GE). GE techniques allow scientists to specifically modify DNA of a microorganism, plant, or animal in order to achieve a desired trait. For example, genetic engineering can be used to add one or more genes to an organism to confer a trait the organism does not have or to modify a trait already existing in the organism (increasing or decreasing the expression of a particular trait).

Safe and nutritious food is the foundation of good health, and people in the United States have more food choices than ever before. Several of these choices are due to continuously improving technologies in food agriculture. Many people want to know more about how their food is produced so they can make the right choices for themselves.

Science and Our Food Supply: Exploring Food Agriculture and Biotechnology aims to empower you and your students to make those choices. It incorporates key scientific knowledge and education resources to help students understand how biotechnology is used to produce food for humans and animals.

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