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Agriculture & Environment: Agri-biotech

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Definitions

Below is a directory of terms used in the field of genetically modified crops. Most of the terms have been reproduced from the University of California Biotech [UCB] or John Innes Centre [JIC].

See All Definitions

P

Pathogen

Any organism capable of producing disease. [UCB]

Pesticide

A chemical substance (such as an insecticide or fungicide) that kills harmful organisms and is used to control pests, such as insects, weeds, or microorganisms. [JIC]

Plasmid

Independent, free-floating circular piece of DNA in a bacterium, capable of making copies of itself in a host cell. Plasmids can be used in genetic modification experiments to clone genes from other organisms and make large quantities of their DNA. [UCB]

Promoter

A control region of a gene that determines in which tissue, and at when, a gene product is produced. [UCB]

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