1. Specialised plant uses
S3 Biology

2. Learning Outcomes In this section I will be able to:
- Outline some of the future uses of plants
- Describe the process of Pharming
- Discuss the potential benefits / risks of Pharming, and argue the case for or against this research

3. Current uses of plants Plants have a wide range of uses: - food
- materials
- medicines

4. Future use of Plants Food Sources
20 plants feed 90% of world population
BUT: over 75,000 edible plants exist
Some could be used to replace basic crops (rice, potato)
Genetic Storehouse
Wild plants can be bred with domestic plants
e.g.
wild corn (resistant to disease) + domestic corn (high food yield)
= perfect crop
amaranth

5. Future use of Plants (ctd.)
Medicines:
Over 2000 plants might be useful for medicines (anti-cancer or antibiotics)
Only 40 plant species currently used
New drugs have to go through trials:
- human cells
- animals
- human volunteers

6. Pharming
Where a species is genetically modified to produce a medically useful product
Plants such as corn, tobacco or rice can be genetically modified
- produce proteins that could be used as medicines
Advantage
- the product will be much easier and cheaper to produce than is currently possible
- products include antibodies, vaccines and hormones
However, the process is very controversial:
E.g. modified pollen could be carried by wind to affect a wild plant
- medicines could accidentally enter the food chain