Plant Factory 1999
Distributed by Chip Taylor Communications, 2 East View Drive, Derry, NH 03038; 800-876-CHIP
Produced by Chip Taylor Communication
Director n/a
VHS, color, 30 min.
High School - Adult
Biology, Agriculture
Date Entered: 11/09/2018
Reviewed by Buzz Haughton, Shields Library, University of California at DavisSet in England, this program describes what the narrator calls a "new agrarian revolution" in the form of genetically engineered plants and crops. Rape is a crop not traditionally grown in Britain, but the UK's entry into the European Union has caused the acreage devoted to its cultivation to mushroom. Rape has many uses outside of its usual one as a vegetable oil source: it can be made into motor lubricants and fuel. Genetic engineering, portrayed at Durham University, is working on enhancing the plant's production of oil and resistance to diseases and pests. An especially exciting possibility is the introduction of bacteria into rape that could produce plastic and that could be biodegraded much more readily than today's plastics, solving supply and disposal problems in one stroke of biotechnological genius.
This video presents an optimistic view of biotechnology and plant genetic engineering in an easily understood and non-technical way. Recommended for undergraduate academic libraries with collections in the life sciences.