PMB 10- PLANTS, AGRICULTURE, AND SOCIETY

PLANT and MICROBIAL BIOLOGY 10 / 2 UNITS / Fall 2004

Tuesdays and Thursdays / 11:00-12:00 / 101 Barker Hall

 

Instructors:

Brian Staskawicz, 241 Koshland hall, (stask@nature.berkeley.edu) 642 3721

David Zilberman, 207 Giannini Hall, (zilber@are.berkeley.edu) 642-6570

 

Grading

40% midterm, 40% final, 15% 3 page paper, 5% class participation

 

    Required Textbook:

Plants and Society, 2nd or 3rd Edition, Estelle Levetin and Karen McMahon, McGraw-Hill Publisher, ISBN 0-697-34552-1

 

Lecture Schedule:

Date

Instructor

Lecture

Lecture Topic

August 31

Staskawicz

1

Course Introduction: Overview and Websites

September2

Staskawicz

2

Agricultural Diversity: The Many Uses of Plants

7

Staskawicz

3

Population and Limits to Agricultural Productivity

9

Staskawicz

4

Farming Systems: Development, Productivity, and Sustainability

14   

Staskawicz

5

Introduction to Plant Life: Form and Function I

16

Staskawicz

6

Introduction to Plant Life: Form and Function II

21

Staskawicz

7

Plants as a Source of Food: Human Nutrition

23

Staskawicz

8

Origins of Crop Plants and Agriculture

28

Staskawicz

9

Grasses and Legumes as Sources of Food

30

Staskawicz

10

Commercial Products Derived from Plants.

October5

Staskawicz

11

Plants and Human Health: Medicinal Applications

7

Staskawicz

Midterm Exam

12

Staskawicz

12

Fungi as a Source of Food, Beverage, and Disease

14

Staskawicz

13

Genetic Basis of Plant Breeding

19

Staskawicz

14

Breeding for Crop Improvement

21

Staskawicz

15

Recombinant DNA Technology and Plant Biotechnology

26

Staskawicz

16

Agricultural Genetic Engineering: Plant Transformation with New Traits

28

Staskawicz

17

Agricultural Genetic Engineering: Applications of the Technology

November2

Zilberman

18

What is Economics?

4

Zilberman

19

Incentives and Markets

9

Zilberman

20

Evaluation and Acceptance of Agricultural Biotechnology

11

Veteran's Day

No class

16

Zilberman

21

Evolution of U.S. Agriculture

18

Zilberman

22

Biodiversity and Biotechnology

18

Zilberman

23

Biotechnology and Developing Countries

23

Zilberman

24

Globalization, Trade, and the WTO

25

Thanksgiving Holiday

No class

30

TBA

 25

Intellectual Property in Agriculture: Does it Serve Societal Interests?

December 2

Zilberman

26

Technology Transfer: Biotechnology and Agricultural Biotechnology

7

Zilberman

27

A Clearinghouse for Biotechnology Intellectual Property

9

Staskawicz/Zilberman

Course Review