Utility of Insects for Studying Human Pathogens and Evaluating New Antimicrobial Agents, by Yan Wang, De-Dong Li, Yuan-Ying Jiang and Eleftherios Mylonakis. Galleria Mellonella as a Model Host to Study Gut Microbe Homeostasis and Brain Infection by the Human Pathogen Listeria Monocytogenes, by Krishnendu Mukherjee, Ramya Raju, Rainer Fischer and Andreas Vilcinskas. Drosophila as a Model to Study Metabolic Disorders, by Julia Hoffmann, Renja Romey, Christine Fink and Thomas Roeder. The Fruit Fly Drosophila melanogaster as a Model for Aging Research, by Annely Brandt and Andreas Vilcinskas. Drosophila and the Hallmarks of Cancer, by Theodoulakis Christofi and Yiorgos Apidianakis. The red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum as a model to monitor food safety and functionality, by Stefanie Grünwald, Iris V. Adam, Ana-Maria Gurmai, Ludmila Bauer, Michael Boll, and Uwe Wenzel. Identification and Bioanalysis of Natural Products from Insect Symbionts and Pathogens, by Alexander O. Brachmann and Helge B. Bode. Antiparasitic Peptides, by Jette Pretzel, Franziska Mohring, Stefan Rahlfs and Katja Becker.

Insect derived enzymes – a treasure for white biotechnology and food biotechnology. Insect-derived chitinases. Cellulases from insects. Optimization of Insect Cell Based Protein Production Processes - Expression Systems, Online Monitoring, Scale-Up. Insect antenna-based biosensors for in situ detection of volatiles. Y-linked markers for improved population control of the tephritid fruit fly pest, Anastrepha suspensa. Transgenic Approaches to Western Corn Rootworm Control. Tribolium castaneum as a model for high-throughput RNAi screening. Aphid-proof plants: Biotechnology-based approaches for aphid control.

The book provides a fascinating overview about current and sophisticated developments in applied entomology that are powered by molecular biology and that can be summarized under a novel term: insect biotechnology. By analogy with the application of powerful molecular biological tools in medicine (red biotechnology), plant protection (green biotechnology) and industrial processing (white biotechnology), insect biotechnology (yellow biotechnology) provides novel tools and strategies for human welfare and nutrition. Insect Biotechnology has emerged as a prospering discipline with considerable economic potential, and encompasses the use of insect model organisms and insect-derived molecules in medical research as well as in modern plant protection measures.

Providing the first overview of Asia’s emerging biosciences landscape, this timely and important collection brings together ethnographic case studies on biotech endeavors such as genetically modified foods in China, clinical trials in India, blood collection in Singapore and China, and stem-cell research in Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. While biotech policies and projects vary by country, the contributors identify a significant trend toward state entrepreneurialism in biotechnology, and they highlight the ways that political thinking and ethical reasoning are converging around the biosciences. As ascendant nations in a region of postcolonial emergence, with an “uncanny surplus” in population and pandemics, Asian countries treat their populations as sources of opportunity and risk. Biotech enterprises are allied to efforts to overcome past humiliations and restore national identity and political ambition, and they are legitimized as solutions to national anxieties about food supplies, diseases, epidemics, and unknown biological crises in the future. Biotechnological responses to perceived risks stir deep feelings about shared fate, and they crystallize new ethical configurations, often re-inscribing traditional beliefs about ethnicity, nation, and race. As many of the essays in this collection illustrate, state involvement in biotech initiatives is driving the emergence of “biosovereignty,” an increasing pressure for state control over biological resources, commercial health products, corporate behavior, and genetic based-identities. Asian Biotech offers much-needed analysis of the interplay among biotechnologies, economic growth, biosecurity, and ethical practices in Asia. Contributors Vincanne Adams Nancy N. Chen Stefan Ecks Kathleen Erwin Phuoc V. Le Jennifer Liu Aihwa Ong Margaret Sleeboom-Faulkner Kaushik Sunder Rajan Wen-Ching Sung Charis Thompson Ara Wilson

With contributions by numerous experts

Transgenic crops offer the promise of increased agricultural productivity and better quality foods. But they also raise the specter of harmful environmental effects. In this new book, a panel of experts examines: • Similarities and differences between crops developed by conventional and transgenic methods • Potential for commercialized transgenic crops to change both agricultural and nonagricultural landscapes • How well the U.S. government is regulating transgenic crops to avoid any negative effects. Environmental Effects of Transgenic Plants provides a wealth of information about transgenic processes, previous experience with the introduction of novel crops, principles of risk assessment and management, the science behind current regulatory schemes, issues in monitoring transgenic products already on the market, and more. The book discusses public involvementâ€"and public confidenceâ€"in biotechnology regulation. And it looks to the future, exploring the potential of genetic engineering and the prospects for environmental effects.

This work integrates basic biotechnological methodologies with up-to-date agricultural practices, offering solutions to specific agricultural needs and problems from plant and crop yield to animal husbandry. It presents and evaluates the limitations of classical methodologies and the potential of novel and emergent agriculturally related biotechnologies.