A Virus In Maya Civilization's Corn Crop

The Mayan Empire didn't have the best land to grow crops on. It was rocky and the soil was hard to keep rich, however the vegetation still did extremely well because the land received quite a bit of rain every year. The Mayans built cisterns to collect rainfall along with the water they found in natural wells fed by underground rivers. Farmers only used a field for two years at a time, then it was abandoned for five years. The farmers typically planted crops just before their rainy season. They used the 'slash and burn' method to help crops thrive and make the soil richer. The farmers grew various crops such as avocados, breadfruit, cacao, chite, corn, cotton, chili peppers, cucumbers, papaya, pumpkins, squash, sweet potatoes, tobacco, tomatoes,

Next, the authors write about how food has been modified throughout the years. They use the example of “cultivated rice, wheat, corn, soy, potatoes, and tomatoes have very little in common with their ancestors.” They use this example to go on to reveal that genetically modifying foods is nothing more than hybridization, or the mating of different plants of the same species to integrate the desired traits from several different varieties into a leading variety. The authors use the example of the tomato and how it is commonly bred with wild tomatoes to make the plant more resistant to pathogens, nematodes, and fungi while eradicating any unwanted traits from the wild plant such as toxins. This example, as a whole is a brilliant use of ethos. It displays that genetically modified foods are healthy and safe because it compares this new technology to a technique that has been done for thousands of years that has never been thought of as dangerous. More importantly, this comparison shows that the authors are credible and that they use their evidence wisely and correctly.

Humans have been manipulating genetic transfer for over 10,000 years since our hunter- gatherer ancestors began to settle in one place and started farming and planting crops. Those humans observed and chose organisms from natural selection to select and breed organisms that showed characteristics desired by them and this began the process of selective breeding. Selective breeding favours recessive alleles that do not persist in wild populations. Selective breeding is a process of increasing the frequency of rare and recessive alleles so that they appear in homozygous form. This has the effect of eliminating the alleles for wild type from the population and the process of domestication has become irreversible. The domestic species has become dependent on humans for their survival. It is from these domestic species that humans have selected and breed favourable genetic traits for their benefit, be it higher yield in plant crops, sweeter tasting fruit, and more milk from dairy cows or ease of handling stock, selective breeding continues to be used today.

Used since the dawn of human domestication of agriculture and livestock, the basic premise of artificial selection involved early farmers selectively saving seeds to breed plants with certain characteristics (Evolution of Corn, n.d.). In more recent times, the aim has shifted from simply creating sturdier, tastier fruits and vegetables to being able to create as much food possible in order to meet human demands. Shaped by our modern global economy’s demand of efficiency, rising industrialization over the 20th century, and growing population, agricultural practices of genetic manipulation of crops has grown immensely over the last century. Taking a step beyond selectively saving choice seeds, the discovery of “hybrid vigor” by genetic engineers lead to farmers being able to interbreed

Genetic Engineering has a multiplicity of uses in agriculture. It can be utilized to increase crop output, resistance to pest and diseases, and enhanced growing conditions. Sagoff states “Genetic engineers can help peasant societies by engineering plants and animals to stand up to the challenges of local conditions, such as blights that affect yams and other traditional crops” (14). The article “Biotechnology and Agriculture: The Common Wisdom and Its Critics.” by Sagoff. Discusses how genetic manipulation of crops would be of major benefit in developing countries, primarily because said countries can 't grow enough food to suffice the populous. Genetic manipulation of plants can make food easier to grow in these countries.

Humans have been altering the genetic makeup of plants for millennia, keeping seeds from the best crops and planting them in following years, breeding and crossbreeding varieties to make them taste sweeter, grow bigger, last longer. In this way we've transformed the wild tomato, Lycopersicon, from a fruit the size of a marble to today's giant, juicy beefsteaks. From a weedy plant called teosinte with an "ear" barely an inch long has come our foot-long (0.3-meter-long) ears of sweet white and yellow corn. In just the past few decades plant breeders have used traditional techniques to produce varieties of wheat and rice plants with higher grain yields. They have also created hundreds of new crop variants using irradiation and mutagenic

The Mayan Civilization at its height was one of the greatest civilization to ever reign on the planet. Their advances in astronomy and mathematics well in advance has helped present civilizations to prosper. But one of the great questions is what happened to the Mayans? Why did they collapse? What caused them to collapse? It is a question that had gone unanswered for decades until some of the worlds great historians and scientist finally concluded to three reasons why the Mayan Civilization collapsed. The Mayans Collapse was fast and occurred due to Deforestation and Climate Change, Overpopulation, and Internal and Exterior Rivalry.

Highlands and lowlands in Southern Guatemala, Belize, Mexico. Highlands contained many minerals. Some areas had rainforests with hot, humid climates. The Mayans were able to grow crops such as chili peppers, beans, squash, avocados, pineapples, and the cacao bean/plant. Since the Mayans rainforests had hot, humid climates, the tropical plants probably wouldn’t have needed good fertilized soil. Because of this, the Mayans used a slash and burn method which burned down tropical plants such as trees, and the ash from the fires were used to grow specific plants like cacao which was used for making chocolate.

The Maya civilization was one of the Mesoamerican cultures that were developed by Maya people. It was highly noted for its hieroglyphic script. This was one of the best writing systems of the pre-Columbian Americas. The Maya community consists majorly of the indigenous people of Mexico and Central America. The Aztec empire was flourished between 1345 and 1521 CE and was spreading within the northern Mesoamerica. The Aztec warriors through their power were able to dominate the neighboring states, and through that, they made it possible to transfer their ideas as well as religion to many parts of Mexico. The art and architecture of the Aztec civilization were the best ranked in the continent and therefore preferable to many due to the design and techniques that were used by the architects. The Aztec territory was best documents within the states and consisted majorly of best archaeological details, native books as well as information from the Spanish conquerors. This study paper aims to describe the Maya civilization.

The food from the New World influenced European society in many ways. The two main foods that changed Europe were the tomato, also known as the pomodoro, and the potato. Without these two foods the world that we know today would be much different. These two foods changed many customs around the world and built many societies. The economical changes brought on by the tomato and the potato is just as important as the changes these two foods made in our kitchens.

Welcome to the age of an agricultural revolution as everyday biotechnology continues to bring innovation to human’s most basic needs – food. Food is essential to any living organism, providing energy for our production and nutrients for our protection. Without this fundamental element, life cannot exist. Our lack to produce our own energy, like plants, causes us to become dependent on others for survival. Humans existence is attributed only to the million years of evolution our food source underwent to sustain our survival. Changing the primary nature of our food source, whether it is plant or animal, directs mankind in a dangerous future if our food dependency is permanently hampered. Welcome to the age of an agricultural devolution

Since 2.3 billion people will be added to the world from 2009 to 2050, biotechnology- Genetically Modified Organism- is a must to combat the global food crisis(Weisser para. 2). When the United States developed Bt corn, “[they] have been genetically engineered to resist herbicides and pests and even withstand drought.”(para. 16). Unlike corn that have never been modified, the Bt corn were able to survive better because of their resistant to herbicides, pests, and drought; resulting, a corn that can survive in harsh environment. By creating a modified corn that can survive in harsh environment, a large supply of corn- food- can be produced. If biotechnology can genetically modified corn to survive in harsh condition, more food can be produced; resulting 2.3 billion people can be fed; therefore, addressing the global food crisis. To put it briefly, limiting biotechnology would prevent addressing the global food crisis. Not only can genetic engineering address the global food crisis, but it can also improve medicine

According to Bakshi (p.211), the use of biotechnology in agricultural production is a major tool for enhancing food security and sustaining the environment. Biotechnology is considered important in addressing the challenge of food availability, alleviation of poverty and environmental conservation. In this regard (Tramper et al 408), it is important to note that GMOs are produced by the introduction of extra genetic information into a certain organism through genetic engineering. The methods are a natural creation of the strategies hitherto employed with an aim of getting different varieties and strains. While some have seen GMOs as a solution to hunger, others have considered this innovation a danger as far as food security is concerned.

The potato seems to us today to be such a staple food that it is hard to believe that it has only been accepted as edible by most of the Western world for the past 200 years. Our story begins thousands of years ago, in South America—Peru,

In less wealthy countries, kids stand in line for hours to get shots that treat infectious diseases that have the potential to kill. But what if the kids could eat dinner and be safe from those diseases for years after they ate a meal? Anti-cholera potatoes are genetically modified potatoes that contain the fluids that prevent cholera. Sometime in the future, there is a possibility that shots and treatments will be a thing the past. All you will have to do is eat a potato, and for the rest of your life, you wont have to worry about getting cholera. There are some drawbacks in this though. For example, when the plants spread pollen, the pollen will carry the gene the gene that makes the food medicated. If the pollen spreads, the gene will spread causing the natural potatoes to become medicated. This could cause people who didn’t want the medicine to take it without realizing it.