![For more than 3,000 years, agricultural workers have contin-
ued to use hybridization techniques to improve the quality of
domestic plants and animals. To a large extent, these tech-
niques have relied on trial-and-error methods of crossing differ-
ent organisms with each other to produce certain desirable
traits. The fact that experimentalists did not know the scientific
basis for the production of hybrids did not mean that such
methods were often not elegant, sophisticated, and productive.
Over time, in fact, they produced hybrid animals such as ligers
(a cross between lions and tigers), beefalo (cow and buffalo),
cama (camel and llama), savannah (domestic cat and serval),
donkra (donkey and zebra), and dzo (domestic cow and yak),
as well as hybrid plants such as the Amarcrinum (a cross
between the Amaryllis and Crinum genera), peppermint
(spearmint and watermint), Chitalpa (desert willow [Chilopsis
linearis] and southern catalpa [Catalpa bignonioides]), Leyland
cypress (Monterey cypress [Cupressus macrocarpa] and Alaska
cedar [Chamaecyparis nootkatensis]), and limequat (Key lime
and kumquat).
Hybrid technologies can be subdivided into two major
categories: intraspecific and interspecific. In the former case,
individuals from two different species are interbred to produce
a new species (e.g., the liger or buffalo), sometimes to produce
a plant or animal with some new and useful physical charac-
teristics, and sometimes just to prove that the breed can be
produced. In the latter case, two individuals from the same spe-
cies are interbred to improve the overall quality of the species.
The inbreeding of the maize plant over the centuries, as an
example, has resulted in a modern plant that looks and tastes
entirely different from the parent plant from which it origi-
nated, a small plant with cobs only a few inches in length and
eight rows of kernels (“Corn in the United States”). The very
significant accomplishments of hybridization can be appreci-
ated today simply by looking at the 161 different breeds of dogs
recognized by the American Kennel Club, the 40 different
breeds of cats recognized by the Cat Fanciers Association, or
Background and History 5](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2460946-250607140105-b08131a3/85/Gmo-Food-A-Reference-Handbook-David-E-Newton-29-320.jpg)
![certainly enough to account for every known genetic character-
istic. At first, they did not know how that all took place, but
they certainly had their suspicions. Indeed, in the last sentence
of their 1953 paper they noted that “[i]t has not escaped our
notice that the specific pairing we have postulated immediately
suggests a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material”
(Watson and Crick 1953, 738).
Only one step remains to provide a complete description of
the DNA molecule. The two strands of the type shown in ear-
lier are lined up opposite each other so that the nitrogen bases
on one strand are lined up opposite the only nitrogen bases
on the other strand to which they are attracted: every A with a
T, and vice versa, and every C with a G, and vice versa (i.e.,
Chargaff’s rule), and the two strands are twisted around each
other to form a double helix, almost like a spiral staircase.
At this point, all that remained was to solve the final part of
the puzzle: Given the chemical structure of a DNA molecule,
how do the four nitrogen bases code for a physical trait, such
as blue eyes, red hair, or left handedness? (Note that it has to
be the bases that hold the key because the background strand of
sugar and phosphate groups is always the same in every DNA
molecule.) A number of researchers contributed to answering
this question, but credit for cracking the code usually goes to
American biochemist Marshall Nirenberg, working with col-
league Johann H. Matthaei at the National Institutes of Health
(NIH). In some ways, the answer was easy. Researchers knew that
the basic process had to be something like this:
nitrogen bases — direct production of —> amino acids —
which make —> proteins.
Each different protein made by this process is responsible by itself
or in combination with other proteins for a specific genetic trait:
blue eyes, red hair, left handedness, and so on. The question really
was how many nitrogen bases and in what arrangement were
needed to account for the production of the approximately two
dozen amino acids used in the synthesis of proteins?
Background and History 11](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2460946-250607140105-b08131a3/85/Gmo-Food-A-Reference-Handbook-David-E-Newton-35-320.jpg)
![February 27, at the conclusion of which participants adopted a
general statement summarizing their work. That statement was
later published as an article in PNAS in June 1975 that con-
sisted of three major elements, based on two general principles.
Those principles were the following:
(i) that [physical] containment be made an essential con-
sideration in the experimental design and, (ii) that the
effectiveness of the containment should match, as closely
as possible, the estimated risk. (Berg et al. 1975, 1981)
The major elements enunciated for reducing risk, according
to one historian, could be classified as “physical containment,
biological containment, and human behaviour” (Krimsky
2005). In the first category, participants at the conference
defined four levels of risk, minimal, low, moderate, and high,
and outlined the types of physical containment necessary for
each level. The second category involved a review of the types
of organisms that should and should not be produced, empha-
sizing the avoidance of organisms that had a moderate to high
probability of being able to survive outside the laboratory.
The third category dealt with the types of behaviors that should
not be allowed, including some that are now part of even a
beginning chemistry student’s list of prohibitions, including
eating and drinking in the laboratory and carrying materials
produced in the laboratory out of the work space (Berg et al.
1975).
The recommendations made by the Asilomar participants
were sent to the NAS, which, in turn, forwarded them to the
NIH, which responded by reconvening the RAC, with instruc-
tions to convert the Asilomar recommendations into guidelines
for researchers who wanted to work with rDNA experiments.
This decision initiated what was to become a long and conten-
tious debate over the elements that should be included within
the guidelines, including debates over the role the general pub-
lic should have in developing those guidelines, the proper
Background and History 23](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2460946-250607140105-b08131a3/85/Gmo-Food-A-Reference-Handbook-David-E-Newton-47-320.jpg)
![agencies from whom those guidelines should come, how
restrictive the final guidelines should be, how important it was
to conduct rDNA research at all, and the extent to which the
safety of such research could be guaranteed. The first draft of
the rDNA guidelines was issued in June 1976, representing a
noble effort on the part of the RAC and NIH to satisfy all inter-
ested parties. That hope was too optimistic, however, and the
committee and the agency continued to work for a number of
years on revisions to the guidelines that would become increas-
ingly more acceptable to all stakeholders in the debate. The
most recent version of the NIH guidelines is a 142-page
document that covers virtually every imaginable issue involved
in the conduct of rDNA research as of March 2013 (“NIH
Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant or Synthetic
Nucleic Acid Molecules [NIH Guidelines], March 2013”; for
an excellent review of the post-Asilomar activities on the guide-
lines, see Fredrickson 2001).
History of rDNA Regulation
The NIH guidelines on rDNA research issued in 1976 had,
according to many critics, one major flaw: they applied only
to research funded by the federal government. This flaw
prompted a number of members of Congress to consider legis-
lation that would extend and perhaps strengthen those guide-
lines to include all research of any kind by any entity within
the United States. In 1977 alone, for example, 16 discrete
bills were introduced into the U.S. Congress on the regulation
of rDNA research (see, for example, “Planned Releases of
Genetically-Altered Organisms” 1986). That effort did not suc-
ceed, however, for a variety of reasons. For one thing, the RAC
decided to expand its membership, including more individuals
from outside the scientific community and giving critics a
greater opportunity to express their views on regulatory issues.
Perhaps more important, however, was the growing realization
among researchers that rDNA experiments might actually not
24 GMO Food](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2460946-250607140105-b08131a3/85/Gmo-Food-A-Reference-Handbook-David-E-Newton-48-320.jpg)
![meantime. Problems are presented and purposes are indicated so that the
preparatory study may be done with some definite end in view.
All facts of history are placed in appropriate settings and perspective,
correlated into a unity, and given vital meaning. Maps, charts, and pictorial
illustrations are provided in abundance and used constantly. Frequently
historic scenes near at hand or known to the pupils are pointed out,
minutely described, and visited.
Teachers appeal to the sentiment of pupils with the aim of begetting
loyalty for the fatherland in the hearts and minds of the young. I have
heard instructors grow eloquent as they warmed up on phases of
Norway's history, and have noted the flushed cheeks and snapping eyes of
the children that bespoke the national pride of the young hearts as
familiar words, slogans, and songs of their heroes were quoted.
When given an opportunity—a common occurrence—the pupils enter into
the rehearsal of historic events with enthusiasm. Every mind in the room
is active. They are awake to the situations and are familiar with the scenes
and literature connected with the several stages of development. Replies
given in response to questions from the teacher are nearly always in the
form of narratives, sometimes occupying ten or fifteen minutes.
General history or history of any foreign country is entered into in a spirit
similar to that characterizing the consideration of their own. On one
occasion I listened to a review on American history. Among the characters
taken up were Grant, Lee, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Lincoln. The pupils
discussed Uncle Tom's Cabin with familiarity, Lee was considered as The
Napoleon of America, but Lincoln was the one to whom most of the class
period was devoted. At the close of the hour the teacher announced a
lecture on Abraham Lincoln for the following Sunday evening in the
Working-Men's College (Arbeiderakademi)[24] of which he was the director.
This incident illustrates the way in which they correlate the work of
different educational organizations, and shows their interest in the
important events connected with the history of other nations.
Geography
Class I. (Two hours.) Arstal's Geography. Norway and Sweden. Review.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2460946-250607140105-b08131a3/85/Gmo-Food-A-Reference-Handbook-David-E-Newton-60-320.jpg)
![Through this advanced treatment they perfect their knowledge of the
language as such, and further their ability to converse in the foreign
tongue.
French
Class I. A (Four hours.) After the more important parts of phonology,
Hermanstorff and Wallem's Reader in French for the Gymnasium I. pp. 18-
108. The most essential parts of the grammar, together with many
exercises in translation. While reviewing, special emphasis is placed upon
reading exercises.
Class I. B (Four hours.) Hermanstorff and Wallem's Reader I pp. 1-55 read
and reviewed, together with the corresponding translations from
Norwegian p. 109 ff. In addition pages 98-108 are read and reviewed and
most of the remaining exercises are gone through cursorily. Wallem's
Vocabulary Part I. 1 and Part V. 6-9 are studied.
Class II. R. G. (Two hours.) Hermanstorff and Wallem's Reader II pp. 1-31
and 104-112. Grammar drill by references to synopses of grammar in the
beginner's book. Wallem's Vocabulary Part I. 1 and V. 6-10 studied and
reviewed.
Class II. Lang. (With Latin five hours, without Latin four hours.)
Hermanstorff and Wallem's Reader. Division without Latin about eighty
pages, consisting of Part I., the last section and Part II selections for A, I-
VI for B, III, IV, VII, XI. Division with Latin, the same amount excepting B,
VII and XI. Wallem's Vocabulary, review V. 6-9.
Class III. R. G. (Two hours.) Hermanstorff and Wallem's Reader, about
eighty pages.
Class III. Lang. (Three hours.) Hermanstorff and Wallem's Reader I, the
last section and II for A, I-X and for B, I-XIII with the exception of a few
selections such as X in A which is read only cursorily. As exercise in ex
tempore translation use Duruy's History of France.
About the same amount of French is taken in the Latin as in the real
course of study though it is carried but for two years in the former and
three in the latter.[25] More time is provided for it in the linguistic-historical
course then in either of the others. Reference to the table on page 171](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2460946-250607140105-b08131a3/85/Gmo-Food-A-Reference-Handbook-David-E-Newton-67-320.jpg)
![a fairly definite knowledge of it. They are able to read fluently and
converse with ease. They have become familiar also with much of
the best English literature, and through it have been brought into
close touch with the life and culture of the English speaking peoples.
Latin
Class II. Latin (Seven hours.) Schreiner's Short Grammar. Inflection
and some of the rules of syntax. Ording's elementary book. Ording's
Latin Reading Selections, pp. 1-36. Written exercises each week.
Class III. Latin (Eleven hours.) Schreiner's Latin Reading Selections,
pp. 30-67 and 73-88. Livy XXII., chapters 4, 9-15, 16-18, 19-28, 42-
55. Cicero in Verrem IV., sections 1-14, 60-70, 72-81, 105-115.
Schreiner's Short Grammar: Syntax. Forty written translations.
Latin is included in the curricula of only about one-half of the
gymnasia of Norway.[26] It is taught by competent teachers who
appeal to the interests of the pupils through related history and
literature, and through promise of linguistic excellence. The work is
gone into thoroughly, drill is constant, and readiness in response is
demanded.
Despite the excellent quality of instruction there is a general feeling
among the Norwegians that the study of Latin does not yield the
immediate and substantial returns coming from other kinds of study.
While they recognize that for advanced work in certain lines Latin is
a prerequisite, they are convinced that, outside of those special lines
of learning, contemporary tongues, history, biology, industrial
chemistry, and other scientific subjects are more beneficial. As a
consequence this branch of study is on the decline.
History
Class I. (Three hours.) Ancient history as treated in Raeder's text.
History of the middle ages up to the second division from Schjoth
and Lange's General History.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2460946-250607140105-b08131a3/85/Gmo-Food-A-Reference-Handbook-David-E-Newton-71-320.jpg)
Gmo Food A Reference Handbook David E Newton
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- 8. Recent Titles in the CONTEMPORARY WORLD ISSUES Series World Sports: A Reference Handbook Maylon Hanold Entertainment Industry: A Reference Handbook Michael J. Haupert World Energy Crisis: A Reference Handbook David E. Newton Military Robots and Drones: A Reference Handbook Paul J. Springer Marijuana: A Reference Handbook David E. Newton Religious Nationalism: A Reference Handbook Atalia Omer and Jason A. Springs The Rising Costs of Higher Education: A Reference Handbook John R. Thelin Vaccination Controversies: A Reference Handbook David E. Newton The Animal Experimentation Debate: A Reference Handbook David E. Newton Steroids and Doping in Sports: A Reference Handbook David E. Newton Internet Censorship: A Reference Handbook Bernadette H. Schell School Violence: A Reference Handbook, second edition Laura L. Finley
- 9. Books in the Contemporary World Issues series address vital issues in today’s society such as genetic engineering, pollution, and biodiversity. Written by professional writers, scholars, and nonacademic experts, these books are authoritative, clearly written, up-to-date, and objective. They provide a good starting point for research by high school and college students, scholars, and general readers as well as by legislators, businesspeople, activists, and others. Each book, carefully organized and easy to use, contains an overview of the subject, a detailed chronology, biographical sketches, facts and data and/or documents and other primary source material, a forum of authoritative perspective essays, annotated lists of print and nonprint resources, and an index. Readers of books in the Contemporary World Issues series will find the information they need to have a better understanding of the social, political, environmental, and economic issues facing the world today.
- 11. CONTEMPORARY WORLD ISSUES GMO Food A REFERENCE HANDBOOK David E. Newton
- 12. Copyright © 2014 by ABC-CLIO, LLC All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Newton, David E. GMO food : a reference handbook / David E. Newton. pages cm. — (Contemporary world issues) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978–1–61069–685–2 (hard copy : alk. paper) — ISBN 978–1–61069–686–9 (ebook) 1. Genetically modified foods. 2. Genetically modified foods—Social aspects. 3. Genetically modified foods—Risk assessment. 4. Transgenic plants. I. Title. II. Title: Genetically modified organisms food. III. Title: Genetically modified food. TP248.65.F66N49 2014 664—dc23 2014021910 ISBN: 978–1–61069–685–2 EISBN: 978–1–61069–686–9 18 17 16 15 14 1 2 3 4 5 This book is also available on the World Wide Web as an eBook. Visit www.abc-clio.com for details. ABC-CLIO, LLC 130 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911 Santa Barbara, California 93116-1911 This book is printed on acid-free paper Manufactured in the United States of America
- 13. Contents Preface, xv 1 BACKGROUND AND HISTORY, 3 Hybridization, 4 The Birth of Genetics, 6 The Gene, 7 The Process of Genetic Engineering, 14 Concerns about rDNA Research, 20 History of rDNA Regulation, 24 Breakthroughs in rDNA Research, 28 Types of Genetically Modified Plants, 32 Genetically Modified Animals, 37 Conclusion, 38 References, 39 2 PROBLEMS, CONTROVERSIES, AND SOLUTIONS, 49 Opposition to Genetically Modified Foods, 49 Public Opinion on Genetically Modified Foods in the United States, 52 vii
- 14. Public Opinion about Genetically Modified Foods in Europe, 58 Regulation of Genetically Modified Crops and Foods in the European Union, 60 The Cartagena Protocol, 65 A Shift in Emphasis, 66 Current Status of Regulation of Genetically Modified Organisms in Europe, 68 A Shift in Emphasis: European Regulations on Labeling, 70 Regulation of Genetically Modified Products throughout the World, 74 Genetically Modified Crops and Foods: Pro and Con, 78 Potential Benefits to the Agricultural System, 78 Potential Benefits to Human Health, 85 Potential Benefits to the Natural Environment, 86 Potential Harm to Human Health, 88 Potential Harm to the Natural Environment, 94 Potential Social and Economic Harm, 97 Labeling of Genetically Modified Foods in the United States, 98 Pros and Cons of Labeling, 100 Conclusion, 101 References, 102 3 PERSPECTIVES, 117 Introduction, 117 A Sledgehammer or a Dart?: Sandy Becker, 117 viii Contents
- 15. Genetic Engineering in Agriculture: Uncertainties and Risks: Debal Deb, 120 Uncertainties in Genetic Engineering, 121 The Precautionary Principle, 124 Conclusions, 125 References, 125 The U.S. Government Should Not Require Genetically Modified Food Labels: Phill Jones, 129 Mandatory Genetically Modified Food Labels Would Incorrectly Indicate a Risk, 130 Mandatory Genetically Modified Food Labels Would Increase the Cost of Food, 131 References, 133 Health Problems Linked to Genetically Modified Crops: Rashmi Nemade, 133 Herbicides, Pesticides (human-cides?), 134 References, 136 Genetically Modified Organisms: Tony Owen, 137 Genetically Modified Foods in Developing Countries: Santosh Pandey, 140 References, 143 Genetically Modified Crops in Africa: Fear of the Unknown?: Elizabeth Shoo, 145 References, 148 Accepting Genetically Modified Crops in India: Sweta, 149 Genetically Modified Crops: Possible Risks, 151 A Growing World Demands New Food Technology: Susan Young, 152 References, 155 Contents ix
- 16. 4 PROFILES, 161 Introduction, 161 American Academy of Environmental Medicine, 161 Biological Regulatory Services, 164 Biotechnology Industry Organization, 166 José Bové (1953–), 168 Herbert Boyer (1936–), 171 Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, 173 Center for Food Safety, 175 Mary-Dell Chilton (1939–), 177 Stanley N. Cohen (1935–), 179 Council for Biotechnology Information, 181 CropGen, 184 Food & Water Watch, 186 Robert T. Fraley (1953–), 188 John E. Franz (1929–), 190 Dennis Gonsalves (1943–), 192 Greenpeace International, 194 Greenpeace United States, 194 Institute for Responsible Technology, 197 International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications, 199 John D. Kemp (1940–), 203 Steve Lindow (1951–), 204 x Contents
- 17. Mark Lynas (1973–), 206 Monsanto, 209 Non-GMO Project, 211 Organic Consumers Association, 213 Ingo Potrykus (1933–), 216 Maxine Singer (1931–), 218 Marc van Montagu (1933–), 221 World Health Organization, 223 5 DATA AND DOCUMENTS, 229 Introduction, 229 Data, 229 Table 5.1 Genetically Engineered Crops in the United States, 2000–2013, 229 Table 5.2 Laws and Regulations on Genetically Modified Crops and Foods, 230 Table 5.3 Characteristics of Permits on Genetically Modified Crops Issued by Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, 232 Table 5.4 Trends in Approved Phenotype Releases in the United States, 1987–2012, 235 Table 5.5 Global Farm Income Benefits from Growing Genetically Modified Crops, 1996–2011, 237 Table 5.6 Genetically Modified Crop Farm Income Benefits of 1996–2011: Selected Countries, 238 Table 5.7 Genetically Modified Crop Farm Income Benefits of 2011: Developing versus Developed Countries, 239 Contents xi
- 18. Documents, 240 Plant Patent Act of 1930, 240 Diamond v. Chakrabarty, 447 U.S. 303 (1980), 241 Coordinated Framework for the Regulation of Biotechnology (1986), 243 Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (2000), 246 Guidance for Industry: Voluntary Labeling Indicating Whether Foods Have or Have Not Been Developed Using Bioengineering (2001), 248 Regulation of Genetically Modified Foods by the European Union (2003), 250 Mendocino County (California) Ban on Genetically Modified Crops (2004), 252 The Safety of Genetically Modified Foods, GAO Report (2002), 254 Invoking of Preemption (North Dakota, SB2277; 2005), 256 Monsanto Co. v. Geertson Seed Farms, 561 U.S. ___ (2010), 257 Proposition 37. Genetically Engineered Foods. Labeling. Initiative Statute (2012), 260 Bowman v. Monsanto, et al. 569 U.S. 11-796 (2013), 262 H. R. 1699 (2013), 263 Raised Bill No. 6519, State of Connecticut (2013), 265 6 RESOURCES FOR FURTHER RESEARCH, 269 Books, 269 Articles, 279 xii Contents
- 19. Reports, 292 Internet Sources, 295 7 CHRONOLOGY, 311 Glossary, 323 Index, 329 About the Author, 335 Contents xiii
- 21. Preface Humans have been altering the genomes (genetic composition) of plants and animals for millennia. At first, these modifications were largely trial-and-error events in which organisms with desirable traits were crossbred with each other to produce new plants or animals better suited for food, for transportation, for working in the field, to be resistant to pests, or for other pur- poses. The first major breakthrough in the process of genetic modification occurred in the late nineteenth century with the discovery of the genetic units (genes) through which characteris- tics are transmitted from generation to generation. Breeders and biological researchers had no way of using this new knowl- edge, however, to improve the traditional methods of produc- ing new organisms by crossbreeding. The next major breakthrough, however, did cross that hurdle. In 1953, American biologist James Watson and English chemist Francis Crick showed that genes were not more nor less than chemical molecules of a substance called deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). That discovery opened new vistas for the modifica- tion of plants and animals because DNA, like any other chemical, can be modified, at least in principle, in the same way any other chemical can be modified. For the first time in history, researchers were able to change the chemical structure of DNA from a cat, alligator, or tobacco plant, thereby producing a new type of cat, alligator, or tobacco plant. And thus was born the science of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Among the most obvious targets of the new technology were food organisms, plants and animals that are bred primarily as xv
- 22. foodstuffs for humans, domestic animals, and other organisms. The technology made it possible, for example, to create new types of plants that are resistant to pesticides, making it possible to use those pesticides on crops without affecting the crops themselves. It also made possible to development of animals used for meat that are fatter or leaner, that mature more quickly, that are less susceptible to disease, or that have any one of a number of other desirable traits. The success of this new technology is reflected in the fact that, as of 2013, 90 percent of all the cotton and corn and 93 percent of all the soybeans grown in the United States is genetically modified. Worldwide, the amount of land under cultivation for genetically modified (GM) crops has risen from essentially zero in 1996 to more than 70 million hectares (170 million acres) in developed nations and just slightly less than that amount in developing nations. Today, crops are modified for a host of purposes, including pest resistance, dis- ease resistance, cold tolerance, drought tolerance, resistance to salinity, improved nutritional value, and the synthetic produc- tion of drugs and other useful chemical products. Despite the undeniable success of GM crops at this point in history, critics have raised a number of concerns about the development, production, and use of such foods. Those critics often argue that, even after years of research, scientists and the general public simply do not know enough about potential health risks of GM foods. They are concerned that such foods may cause cancer in humans and other animals to whom they are fed or that they may produce allergic reactions in people who have a predisposition to such conditions. Critics also worry about the potential harm that GM foods could cause to the natural environment. They suggest that genetically engineered traits might be transferred in nature to unintended target organisms, producing frightening “super-organisms,” which might be resistant to human control because of their modified genomes. Critics also point out that once GM plants and ani- mals are released to the natural environment, there may be no xvi Preface
- 23. way to control or recover those organisms, should they turn out to be more dangerous than first thought. Finally, individuals and organizations who object to the use of GM technology fear that this technology will only make developing nations even more dependent on developed nations and multinational corporations than they already are. This book is designed to provide young adults with the fac- tual background they need to better understand the controversy over GM foods and with the tools to continue their own research on the topic. Chapter 1 provides background and his- tory about the development of genetic engineering technology over the centuries, with special emphasis on the period since the 1950s. Chapter 2 reviews some of the most important problems and issues associated with GM foods, including the advantages and disadvantages of the development and use of such products. Chapter 3 provides an opportunity for stake- holders in the debate to express their personal views on some specific aspect of the overall issue of GM foods. Chapter 4 includes profiles of a number of individuals and organizations that have been or are involved in the controversy over the devel- opment and use of GM foods. Chapter 5 includes a number of important documents—court cases, laws, position statements, and the like—associated with the topic of GM foods, as well as some statistical data about the production and use of such foods. Chapter 6 is an annotated bibliography of print and elec- tronic sources that contain additional information about GM foods. Chapter 7 is a chronology of important events from pre- history to the modern day on the topic of GM food. Glossary lists important terms used in the discussion of the topic. Preface xvii
- 25. GMO Food
- 27. 1 Background and History Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. (Genesis 1: 28, New King James Version) One of the first commands issued by God, according to the holy book of the Christian religion, is for humans to “subdue the Earth,” taking command over all the plants and animals that God had placed on Earth. At the dawn of human civiliza- tion, no matter what religious beliefs one holds, such was largely the situation in which early humans found themselves; they stood alone against the rest of the natural world. They had no cows to supply them with milk, no mules to carry their burdens, no horses to ride to distant places, and no corn or wheat with which to make their meals. Everything they needed they had to find in the natural world and kill or collect it for their own needs. Slowly that situation began to change. Humans realized, first of all, that they could domesticate some of the wild animals around them as sources of milk and meat, as beasts of burden, and to supply hides and other body parts for tools and 3 Marshall Nirenberg shared the 1968 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Har Gobind Khorana and Robert W. Holley for solving the genetic code and showing how it functions in the synthesis of proteins. (National Library of Medicine)
- 28. ornaments. No one knows precisely when the first animals were domesticated, although some authorities suggest a date of about 8000 BCE as the period during which first goats, and then sheep, were domesticated for human use. Residents of Mesopotamia were learning about the domestication of not only animals but also plants at about the same time. They found ways of taking plants that grew naturally in the environ- ment around them and growing them under controlled condi- tions not only as sources of food but also as raw materials for clothing, housing, and other basic needs. Hybridization Many millennia after humans began the domestication of wild plants and animals, they took a significantly more advanced step: They began to create entirely new plants or animals, not found in nature, by cross-breeding two different species of natural plants or animals, a process known as hybridization. Probably the first animal hybrid was produced by crossing a horse and a donkey. When the cross involves a male donkey (jackass) and a female horse (mare), the product is called a mule. A cross between a female donkey (jenny) and a male horse (stallion) results in the birth of a hinny. Hinnies are depicted in Egyptian tomb paintings as early as 1400 BCE, and mules can be identified in Mesopotamian art dating to the first millennium BCE (Sherman 2002, 42). The origins of plant hybridization are also somewhat difficult to trace, although there is some evidence that the first rice hybrids may have been produced by about 2000 BCE when rice native to Japan (Oryza sativa japonica) was hybridized on the Indian sub- continent to form a new strain, O. sativa indica (“Indian Archaeobotany Watch: Lahuradewa 2008”). O. sativa japonica also made its way to the African continent by about 1500 BCE, where it was domesticated and hybridized with a native form of rice, O. barthii, to form a new species, O. glaberrima (Hirst, “History of Rice, Part One”; Linares 2002, 16360). 4 GMO Food
- 29. For more than 3,000 years, agricultural workers have contin- ued to use hybridization techniques to improve the quality of domestic plants and animals. To a large extent, these tech- niques have relied on trial-and-error methods of crossing differ- ent organisms with each other to produce certain desirable traits. The fact that experimentalists did not know the scientific basis for the production of hybrids did not mean that such methods were often not elegant, sophisticated, and productive. Over time, in fact, they produced hybrid animals such as ligers (a cross between lions and tigers), beefalo (cow and buffalo), cama (camel and llama), savannah (domestic cat and serval), donkra (donkey and zebra), and dzo (domestic cow and yak), as well as hybrid plants such as the Amarcrinum (a cross between the Amaryllis and Crinum genera), peppermint (spearmint and watermint), Chitalpa (desert willow [Chilopsis linearis] and southern catalpa [Catalpa bignonioides]), Leyland cypress (Monterey cypress [Cupressus macrocarpa] and Alaska cedar [Chamaecyparis nootkatensis]), and limequat (Key lime and kumquat). Hybrid technologies can be subdivided into two major categories: intraspecific and interspecific. In the former case, individuals from two different species are interbred to produce a new species (e.g., the liger or buffalo), sometimes to produce a plant or animal with some new and useful physical charac- teristics, and sometimes just to prove that the breed can be produced. In the latter case, two individuals from the same spe- cies are interbred to improve the overall quality of the species. The inbreeding of the maize plant over the centuries, as an example, has resulted in a modern plant that looks and tastes entirely different from the parent plant from which it origi- nated, a small plant with cobs only a few inches in length and eight rows of kernels (“Corn in the United States”). The very significant accomplishments of hybridization can be appreci- ated today simply by looking at the 161 different breeds of dogs recognized by the American Kennel Club, the 40 different breeds of cats recognized by the Cat Fanciers Association, or Background and History 5
- 30. the more than 2,000 varieties of roses recognized by the American Rose Society (“AKC Breeds—Complete Breed List”; “CFA Breeds”; Quest-Ritson and Quest-Ritson 2011). The Birth of Genetics The first real attempt to obtain a scientific explanation for the process by which hybridization occurs dates to the work of the Austrian monk Gregor Mendel between 1856 and 1863. In one of the most famous set of experiments in the history of science, Mendel patiently crossbred differing strains of peas (Pisum sativum), carefully recording the properties of the prog- eny of each cross for two or more generations of the plants. As a one-time teacher of mathematics and physics, Mendel under- stood the importance of collecting precise quantitative data about the changes that occurred as a result of his crossbreeding efforts. The laws of hybridization that now carry his name illus- trate this commitment to quantitative thinking. One such law, for example, predicts that the ratio between two forms of a trait (e.g., color) in a crossbreeding will always be 3:1, whereas the ratio between two forms of two traits (e.g., color and size) will always be 9:3:3:1 (O’Neil 1997). Perhaps the most important conclusion Mendel was able to draw from his research was actually a very simple one: The physi- cal traits of pea plants that are transmitted from parent to off- spring are apparently encoded in some type of unitary particle, to which Mendel gave the name Elemente. He was fully able to describe how physical traits (which he called Merkmal), such as color and size, were passed down from generation to generation by imagining various ways in which these Elemente combined with each other during the mating of female and male plants. In one of the great oddities of the history of science, Mendel’s momentous discoveries were essentially lost for more than three decades after he reported them to a small local group of scientists, the Natural History Society of Brno (Naturforschenden Vereins Brünn), on February 8 and March 8, 1865. Then, in 1900, those 6 GMO Food
- 31. results were almost simultaneously rediscovered by three research- ers independently, the Dutch botanist Hugo de Vries, the Austrian agronomist Erich von Tschermak, and the German botanist Carl Correns, all of whom immediately recognized that Mendel’s discoveries made possible for the first time a new field of science that could be used to understand and direct the hybridization of plants and animals. The dispute that arose as to which of these three men should receive credit for this rediscovery inspired many more biologists to seek out Mendel’s original papers, and his work at last began to receive the recognition that it had long deserved (Moore 2001). And thus was born the new science of genetics. The renaissance of Mendel’s work raised the question as to what the unitary particle, Mendel’s Elemente, should be called. De Vries had already adopted the notion of a unitary hereditary factor, which he called the pangen, which he thought of as being invisibly small but still larger than a chemical molecule (Wayne 2010, 270). Finally in 1909, the Danish botanist Wilhelm Johannsen suggested a name for the unitary particle by which it is still known today, the gen (in Danish and German), or gene (in English). The Gene By the first decade of the twentieth century, genetics had begun to expand and grow. Some early discoveries about the transmis- sion of hereditary traits were being reported. However, one of the most basic questions in the new science remained unan- swered: What is a “gene”? Most practitioners understood the notion that hereditary traits were carried from one generation to the next on or within some type of unitary particles, but what precisely and exactly was that particle? True, many geneti- cists did not worry too much as to what a “gene” was as long as they could design experiments that played out successfully— even if they didn’t know exactly what a gene looked like. Whereas other researchers recognized that discovering the Background and History 7
- 32. physical and chemical nature of the gene was ultimately essen- tial to developing a true and productive science of genetics, and they embarked on a campaign to discover what that unit really consisted of. For most researchers, the primary candidate for the gene was some kind of protein molecule. Proteins are complex chemical substances that consist of various combinations of about two dozen simpler molecules known as amino acids, joined to each other in a variety of ways. Proteins are very large molecules, consisting of hundreds or thousands of amino acids in virtually every imaginable combination. And that fact explains why pro- teins were thought to be good candidates for genes: The many different sizes, shapes, and compositions proteins could have meant that they could code for an endless variety of physical and biological traits, which is just what we see in the natural world. A relatively small number of researchers, however, focused on a different candidate molecule known as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Nucleic acids had been discovered in 1868 by German chemist Friedrich Miescher, who originally called the material nuclein, because he found it in the nuclei of cells. (Miescher’s stu- dent, Richard Altmann, later suggested the term nucleic acid for the material, the name by which it is known today.) Miescher knew nothing about the chemical composition of nuclein or its biological function. He considered the possibility that it might be involved in the hereditary transmission of genetic traits but later rejected that notion (Dahm 2008; Wolf 2003). In fact, research on the chemical structure and function of nucleic acids moved forward very slowly and with few practical results for many years. For example, it was not even until 1935 that the Russian chemist Andrei Nikolaevitch Belozersky was able to iso- late a pure sample of the material, making it possible for research- ers to proceed with an analysis of its structure and function. Much of the early research on DNA produced findings that appeared to be trivial and of questionable value at the time. For example, in 1950, Austro-Hungarian–born American 8 GMO Food
- 33. biochemist Erwin Chargaff discovered that two of the nitrogen bases found in DNA, adenine (A) and thymine (T), always occur in the same ratio to each other, and the other two nitro- gen bases present in DNA, guanine (G) and cytosine (C), also occur in the same ratio, although the two ratios are different from each other. So according to this so-called Chargaff’s rule, if there were 5.2 g of A in a sample of DNA, there would also be 5.2 g of T, and the presence of 3.5 g of C necessarily implied the presence of 3.9 g of G. So what possible significance could that information have in thinking about genes? The answer to that question would come in only three years, and when it did, it turned out to be an essential part of the description of what a gene is. In fact, by the early 1950s, enough information about DNA had accumulated that a few research teams were close to answering that fundamental question: What is a gene? The winners of the contest (and a contest is very much what it was) was a somewhat unusual research team working at Oxford University in Great Britain. The team consisted of a somewhat brash young biologist from the United States, James Watson; a more reserved physicist-turned-chemist from Great Britain, Francis Crick; a New Zealand-born physicist- turned-molecular biologist, Maurice Wilkins; and a brilliant, but somewhat ignored, English x-ray crystallographer, Rosalind Franklin. In a series of events too long and complex to be told here, the team—often not working together happily as a team—finally discovered the chemical structure of DNA. Crick and Watson announced the result of their work in a now-classic paper published in the journal Nature on April 25, 1953. (Crick and Watson received the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine, along with Wilkins, but without Franklin, in 1962.) The Watson–Crick model of DNA consists of two very long strands of atoms (the backbone of the molecule), where long means tens or hundreds of thousands of atoms. The atoms are grouped into two characteristic groups, a sugar called deoxyribose Background and History 9
- 34. and a phosphate group, which is a collection of one phosphorus atom and four oxygen atoms. So each of the two strands of the DNA molecules looks like this: where S represents a sugar grouping and P a phosphate grouping. Attached to every sugar group is one of the four (and there are only four) nitrogen bases found in DNA. Each of the four nitrogen bases—adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine— consists of about two dozen atoms, some of which are nitrogen atoms (and hence their name). So a complete DNA strand looks like this: where A, T, G, and C stand for the four nitrogen bases, and with the possibility of placing any nitrogen base anywhere on the strand. To get an idea of the size of a DNA molecule, imag- ine that the formula shown in here runs across the width of this page, the next page, and all the pages of this book, without showing even a small part of the molecule. As soon as they drew this model, Watson and Crick knew that DNA would be an ideal candidate for a gene. Moving all those A, T, C, and G nitrogen bases around on the DNA backbone made possible an almost infinite variety of structures, 10 GMO Food Figure 1.1 Backbone of DNA Molecule Figure 1.2 Nitrogen Bases in DNA
- 35. certainly enough to account for every known genetic character- istic. At first, they did not know how that all took place, but they certainly had their suspicions. Indeed, in the last sentence of their 1953 paper they noted that “[i]t has not escaped our notice that the specific pairing we have postulated immediately suggests a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material” (Watson and Crick 1953, 738). Only one step remains to provide a complete description of the DNA molecule. The two strands of the type shown in ear- lier are lined up opposite each other so that the nitrogen bases on one strand are lined up opposite the only nitrogen bases on the other strand to which they are attracted: every A with a T, and vice versa, and every C with a G, and vice versa (i.e., Chargaff’s rule), and the two strands are twisted around each other to form a double helix, almost like a spiral staircase. At this point, all that remained was to solve the final part of the puzzle: Given the chemical structure of a DNA molecule, how do the four nitrogen bases code for a physical trait, such as blue eyes, red hair, or left handedness? (Note that it has to be the bases that hold the key because the background strand of sugar and phosphate groups is always the same in every DNA molecule.) A number of researchers contributed to answering this question, but credit for cracking the code usually goes to American biochemist Marshall Nirenberg, working with col- league Johann H. Matthaei at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In some ways, the answer was easy. Researchers knew that the basic process had to be something like this: nitrogen bases — direct production of —> amino acids — which make —> proteins. Each different protein made by this process is responsible by itself or in combination with other proteins for a specific genetic trait: blue eyes, red hair, left handedness, and so on. The question really was how many nitrogen bases and in what arrangement were needed to account for the production of the approximately two dozen amino acids used in the synthesis of proteins? Background and History 11
- 36. It is obvious that a single nitrogen base cannot code for two dozen amino acids because the four nitrogen bases in DNA could then code for only four different amino acids. How about a genetic code consisting of two nitrogen bases? In that case, one DNA molecule could make 16 amino acids. Go ahead and try it. See how many different ways you can put together two nitrogen bases, such as: AA AT AC AG GC GT . . . 12 GMO Food Figure 1.3 Structure of a DNA Molecule (Madeleine Price Ball)
- 37. You should be able to come up with 16 different combinations, not enough to make two dozen amino acids. However, what about sets of three nitrogen bases? Again, try it yourself and see: AAA AAT ATA ATT CGT CGG CGA . . . This system will work. With a set of three nitrogen bases— called a triad or codon—a single DNA molecule can code for 64 different amino acids. That is well beyond the number of amino acids used in proteins, but, as it turns out, it provides redundancy for the DNA molecule. A single amino acid, such as arginine, can be made by any one of six different triads: CGU, CGC, CGA, CGG, AGA, or AGG. The final step is to determine which arrangement of nitrogen bases codes for which amino acid. Nirenberg got the process working to answer this question with an elegantly simple experi- ment. He prepared a DNA molecule that contained only one nitrogen base, adenine (AAA), and found that this molecule codes for the amino acid lysine. Another DNA molecule consisting only of cytosine (CCC) coded for the amino acid proline. By using somewhat more complicated DNA molecules consisting of other combinations of nitrogen bases, Nirenberg and other researches were eventually able to produce a complete genetic code that tells which amino acid is coded for by every possible combination of nitrogen bases. Table 1.1 shows what that code looks like. In the table, the first nitrogen base in the code is shown on the left side of the box, the second nitrogen base on the top of the box, and the third nitrogen base on the right side of the box. All very interesting, perhaps, what does this discussion have to do with the genetic modification of foods? The important point of this story is that the Watson–Crick discovery turned the question of the biological properties of an organism—the colors of its flowers, the amount of meat on its carcass, its abil- ity to resist attack by insects, and the like—into a chemical problem. A plant that is able to live in a very salt environment, Background and History 13
- 38. for example, can do so—taking the simplest possible view— because its DNA consists of a sequence of nitrogen bases that codes for the amino acids from which proteins are made that are responsible for salt tolerance. If the plant did not have this specific set of nitrogen bases, it could not make those amino acids or the protein that makes it salt tolerant. So if you have a plant that is not salt tolerant to begin with, all you really need to do is to carry out a chemical experiment in which the incorrect nitrogen bases are removed from the DNA molecule and/or the correct nitrogen bases are inserted into the molecule in such a way that the “salt-tolerant” configu- ration is achieved. As you might guess, this process is a lot easier to describe than it is to carry out in the laboratory. Let us see how it is actually done in practice. The Process of Genetic Engineering The modification of a plant or animal’s genetic composition (its genome) can be accomplished in the following steps. 14 GMO Food Table 1.1 The Genetic Code 2nd base 3rd base T C A G T TTT = Phe TTC = Phe TTA = Leu TTG = Leu TCT = Ser TCC = Ser TCA = Ser TCG = Ser TAT = Tyr TAC = Tyr TAA = STOP TAG = STOP TGT = Cys TGC = Cys TGA = STOP TGG = Trp T C A G C CTT = Leu CTC = Leu CTA = Leu CTG = Leu CCT = Pro CCC = Pro CCA = Pro CCG = Pro CAT = His CAC = His CAA = Gln CAG = Gln CGT = Arg CGC = Arg CGA = Arg CGG = Arg T C A G 1st base A ATT = Ile ATC = Ile ATA = Ile ATG = Met/ START ACT = Thr ACC = Thr ACA = Thr ACG = Thr AAT = Asn AAC = Asn AAA = Lys AAG = Lys AGT = Ser AGC = Ser AGA = Arg AGG = Arg T C A G G GTT = Val GTC = Val GTA = Val GTG = Val GCT = Ala GCC = Ala GCA = Ala GCG = Ala GAT = Asp GAC = Asp GAA = Glu GAG = Glu GGT = Gly GGC = Gly GGA = Gly GGG = Gly T C A G
- 39. First, researchers have to decide what physical or biological property of an organism they want to change. Do they want to make a plant that is resistant to rust disease or one that pro- duces fruit that does not ripen as quickly as the natural plant? Or do they want an animal with reduced body fat or one that lays more eggs in a shorter time? Second, they have to find out what region of the organism’s genome codes for that particular physical or biological property. In practice, that means that all or some portion of the organism’s genome has to be sequenced. Sequencing means finding out what genes are present in the genome, what their chemical (DNA) structures are, and where they are located in the genome. Scientists have been working on the sequencing of plant, ani- mal, and other genomes for more than 40 years. The first genome of any kind sequenced was that of a virus, bacteriophage MS2, a project completed by Belgian molecular biologist Walter Fiers in 1976. It took nearly two decades to produce the genomes of more complex organisms, such as the first bacterium, Haemophilus influenzae, completed by researchers at the Institute for Genomic Research (IGR) in 1995; the first archaeon, Methanococcus jannaschii, also produced by IGR researchers in 1996; and the first eukaryote, a yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, determined by researchers at 74 European laboratories and announced after a decade-long project in 1997. The complete sequencing of the first plant genome, that of a weed in the mustard family, Arabidopsis thaliana, was com- pleted in 2000 by an international consortium, and a new project has been initiated to determine the function of the more than 25,000 genes present in that genome. The first complete animal genome announced was that of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, produced by a team at the Sanger Institute and Washington University in 1998, followed two years later by the announcement of the complete genome of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster by a team from the Celera company, the Baylor College of Medicine, the University of California at Berkeley, and the European Drosophila Genome Background and History 15
- 40. Project (DGP). The first draft of the complete genome of humans (Homo sapiens) was announced in 2001 by the Human Genome Project and researchers at Celera Genomics, and the final and complete genome was reported in 2006. Efforts to determine the function of each of the 20,251 known human genes constitute a major activity in the world of genetics research today (Hutchison 2007; “Memorandum by the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK-IPO),” Table 2.1). Third, researchers have to find a way to alter the organism’s genome so that it stops producing the wrong (to the researchers) kind of protein(s) and/or to start producing the right (again, to the researchers) kind of proteins(s). Either of these options changes the properties of the organism in the direction that researchers want. How can they make such changes in the genome? It turns out that changing the structure of a DNA molecule requires only two kinds of tools: a “pair of scissors” to cut open a DNA molecule and a “paste pot” to glue the molecule back together. In a stroke of good luck, researchers learned that DNA molecules already have these devices available to them; in fact, they use them regularly to deal with everyday occur- rences with which a DNA molecule has to deal. The “scissors” first: In the late 1960s, Swiss microbiologist Werner Arber hypothesized that bacterial cells possess a natural ability to protect themselves against infection by virus-type materials (bacteriophages, or simply phages) by using specialized enzymes that cut viral DNA, incapacitating the bacteriophage. He called these enzymes restriction endonucleases or restriction enzymes. By 1968, he had been able to identify one such restric- tion enzyme in the common bacterium Escherichia coli, an enzyme that he called EcoB. Within a matter of months, Harvard researchers Matthew Meselson and Robert Yuan had discovered a second restriction enzyme in the E. coli bacterium, which they named EcoK. Two years later, Hamilton O. Smith and Kent W. Wilcox at the University of California at Berkeley discovered another restriction enzyme from the bacterium Haemophilus influenzae, 16 GMO Food
- 41. which they called HindII. HindII turned out, however, to be a significantly different kind of restriction enzyme from either EcoB or EcoK. The latter two enzymes cut DNA molecules at random points in the molecular chain. Adding either enzyme to a DNA molecule produced different sets of products each time the experiment was done. Whereas HindII targeted very specific parts of a DNA molecule, which became known as restriction sites. When added to DNA, the enzyme “searched for” the sequence and cut the molecule precisely at that part. (Today, the two types of restriction enzymes are known as Type I and Type II enzymes.) For the HindII restriction enzyme, for example, the restriction site is in the region: GTPy"PuAC where G is a guanine group, T a thymine group, A an adenine group, C a cytosine group, Py any pyrmidine nitrogen base (usu- ally cytosine or thymine), and Pu any purine base (usually adenine or guanine). The arrow indicates the point at which the enzyme cleaves the DNA strand. Other restriction enzymes cut a DNA molecule at other characteristic points. The PstI enzyme, for example, cuts the molecule at the point CTGCA"G. (For a history of the development of restriction enzymes, see Pray 2008 and Roberts 2005). Using a pair of restriction enzyme scissors on a DNA molecule produces the following effect, in which a complete molecule is cut at some distinctive region: - C - G - G - G - T - A - A - G - T - C - C - C - A - G - C - G - - G - C - C - C - A - T - T - C - A - G - G - G - T - C - G - C - # - C - G - G - G - T - A - A - G - T - C - C - C - A - G - C - G - - G - C - C - C - A - T - T - C - A - G - G - G - T - C - G - C - Second, the “paste pot” also occurs naturally in cells and is used to repair strands of DNA that become broken as a result of exposure to heat, light, other forms of radiation, some Background and History 17
- 42. chemicals, and other factors. As this process occurs thousands of time every day in the average human body, some mechanism is needed to repair damage to DNA. That mechanism involves the use of yet another type of enzyme, known as a DNA ligase. Ligases have the ability to join together the two ends of a broken DNA molecule, making it once more “as good as new.” In the example just above, a ligase is able to restore the chemical bond between adenine and guanine groups in the upper chain and between thymine and cytosine in the lower chain (“DNA Ligase, T4”; “DNA Repair” 2002). The availability of naturally occurring “scissors” and “paste pot” makes it possible to carry out the process of genetic engi- neering of any cell. The first instance in which this process was actually carried out in the laboratory was an experiment designed by American biochemist Paul Berg in 1972. He worked with two very simple organisms, a virus that infects monkeys, SV40 (for simian virus 40), and another virus that most commonly infects the bacterium E. coli, called the (lambda) bacteriophage. Both organisms exist in the form of plasmids, circular loops consisting of DNA only. In the first step of his experiment, Berg cut open the SV40 plasmid using the restriction enzyme EcoRI. He then used the same restriction enzyme to cut out a small segment of DNA from the bacteriophage. Each time the restriction enzyme made a cut in one of the viruses, it produced a modified par- ticle (the SV40 modified plasmid) or a DNA fragment (from the bacteriophage) with so-called sticky ends. The term sticky ends refers to the fact that the open segment of the SV40 virus and the ends of the particle contain a short segment of DNA consisting of a distinctive set of nitrogen bases GCTA CGAT that was capable of joining to a comparable set of nitrogen bases from some other source, such as 18 GMO Food
- 43. GCTA CGAT Next, Berg inserted the DNA segment taken from the bacte- riophage into the gap he had created in the SV40 plasmid. Finally, he sealed up this new plasmid using a DNA ligase. The product thus formed is known in general as a chimera, a term taken from Greek mythology that refers to mythical animals con- sisting of body parts of a variety of animals, such as a human body with the head of a lion or some other animal and a tail. The final product is also known as recombinant DNA (rDNA), a term that is also used to describe the procedure by which the chimera is produced. Berg was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1980 for this research. (He offered a technical description of his work in his Nobel lecture on December 8, 1980.) At about the same time that Berg was carrying out his pio- neering experiments, two other American researchers, Herbert W. Boyer and Stanley N. Cohen, were embarking on a some- what more ambitious but similar project in their separate labo- ratories at Stanford University and the University of California at San Francisco. Boyer and Cohen were exploring methods for inserting a variety of DNA segments that coded for specialized properties into plasmids like the one used by Berg. In one experiment, for example, Boyer and Cohen worked with E. coli bacteria, one strain of which was resistant to the antibiotic tetracycline (call them the t+ bacteria), and one of which was resistant to the antibiotic kanamycin (call them k+ ). For their experiments, Boyer and Cohen used a synthetic plasmid called pSC101 (“p” for “plasmid,” “SC” for “Stanley Cohen,” and “101” because it was the 101st plasmid Cohen had invented). pSC101 was about as simple as plasmids can get, consisting of only two genes, one of which coded for replication of the plasmid and one for resistance to kanamycin. Using the cut-and-paste method described earlier, Boyer and Cohen inserted a third gene into the pSC101 plasmid, a gene coding for resistance to tetracycline. They then inserted the Background and History 19
- 44. modified pSC101 plasmid into a E. coli culture and allowed the bacteria to reproduce. After a period of time, they found some bacteria that were resistant to tetracycline (as some E. coli natu- rally are), some that were resistant to kanamycin (as other E. coli naturally are), and some that were resistant to both antibiotics (as none of their bacteria naturally were). They had produced a recombinant form of the bacterium with new properties different from those found in naturally occurring E. coli. Boyer and Cohen went on to conduct a number of similar experiments transferring one or another physical or biological property from one organism to another. In what was probably their most impressive work of all, they eventually found a way to transfer genes taken from an amphibian, the African clawed toad Xenopus laevis, into bacteria, where they were expressed over a number of generations (“The First Recombinant DNA”). Concerns about rDNA Research The work of Boyer and Cohen is sometimes thought to consti- tute the beginning of the age of modern biotechnology. Certainly, the techniques they developed were soon being put into use by researchers around the world to produce a host of new transformed organisms. For example, German-born American researcher Rudolf Jaenisch and his colleague, Beatrice Mintz, reported in 1974 that they had produced trans- genetic mice by transferring a portion of the SV40 genome into pregnant mice, which then exhibited traits carried by the SV40 DNA when they reached adulthood (Hopkin 2011). Virtually everyone with the least knowledge about molecular biology began to realize the staggering implications of this line of research. For the first time in human history, scientists had discovered a way of potentially remaking life in essentially any form they desired. It is difficult to imagine a more exciting, promising, and also terrifying line of research. Even as the first new discoveries in biotechnology were being announced, a number of researchers—including many 20 GMO Food
- 45. who were themselves active in the field—began to express con- cerns about the possible risks to humans and the natural envi- ronment of such research. Of course, there was almost no precedent for the research being conducted, and no one really knew what might happen if an engineered organism managed to escape from a laboratory. What effects might it have on human health or on the environment. These concerns were partially based on the fact that one of the most common organ- isms used in the research was E. coli, a bacterium found com- monly in the environment and, more importantly, in the digestive tract of humans and other animals. As early as 1973, the potential risks posed by rDNA research were discussed at a meeting, the Conference on Biohazards in Biological Research, also known as Asilomar I, held in January 1973 at the Asilomar Conference Center, Asilomar State Beach, California. That meeting was sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the National Cancer Institute and attended by about 100 researchers. The risks asso- ciated with the use of viruses in research were the major theme, and only modest attention paid to rDNA research in particular (Peterson and White 2010). At another series of meetings held in June of the same year, a major annual session known as the Gordon Conferences, Boyer reported in an off-the-record session about his research, and attendees at his meeting immediately recognized potential problems that this research was likely to involve. They agreed to write a letter to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and National Academy of Medicine (NAM), recommending that these federal agencies initiate a more formal analysis of the risks that might be associated with rDNA research projects (Peterson and White 2010). The NAS responded to that letter by recommending the for- mation of an informal study group of rDNA researchers to con- sider this question. In July 1974, that group of researchers wrote a letter to the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States (now PNAS) reporting Background and History 21
- 46. on their deliberations. The group included Berg (who was chair of the group), Boyer, Cohen, Daniel Nathans, Watson, and David Baltimore, who was a year later to win the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for his work in molecular biology. The signatories of the PNAS letter made four specific recom- mendations for dealing with the potential dangers posed by rDNA research: 1. A voluntary moratorium on certain types of rDNA research that might possibly increase the risk to human health of such research. 2. Careful consideration to experiments in which animal DNA is introduced into bacterial DNA. 3. The creation of an advisory committee within the NIH with the responsibilities of overseeing an experimental pro- gram to obtain better information about the safety of rDNA research, developing new procedures for minimizing the risks posed by such research, and devising guidelines under which future rDNA research should be conducted. 4. Convening an international meeting of scientists to discuss the safety issues created by this new field of research (Berg et al. 1974). In October 1974, the NIH followed recommendation 3 in this letter by appointing a Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee (RAC), which remains in service to the present day. In addition, less than a year after the PNAS letter was pub- lished, the proposed meeting was held, once more at the Asilomar Conference Center. It is sometimes known as Asilomar II, to distinguish it from the earlier meeting by the same name. The conference included a total of 153 partici- pants, of whom 83 were molecular biologists from the United States, 50 molecular biologists from other countries, 16 jour- nalists, and four lawyers (Peterson and White 2010). The meet- ing continued over a period of four days, from February 24 to 22 GMO Food
- 47. February 27, at the conclusion of which participants adopted a general statement summarizing their work. That statement was later published as an article in PNAS in June 1975 that con- sisted of three major elements, based on two general principles. Those principles were the following: (i) that [physical] containment be made an essential con- sideration in the experimental design and, (ii) that the effectiveness of the containment should match, as closely as possible, the estimated risk. (Berg et al. 1975, 1981) The major elements enunciated for reducing risk, according to one historian, could be classified as “physical containment, biological containment, and human behaviour” (Krimsky 2005). In the first category, participants at the conference defined four levels of risk, minimal, low, moderate, and high, and outlined the types of physical containment necessary for each level. The second category involved a review of the types of organisms that should and should not be produced, empha- sizing the avoidance of organisms that had a moderate to high probability of being able to survive outside the laboratory. The third category dealt with the types of behaviors that should not be allowed, including some that are now part of even a beginning chemistry student’s list of prohibitions, including eating and drinking in the laboratory and carrying materials produced in the laboratory out of the work space (Berg et al. 1975). The recommendations made by the Asilomar participants were sent to the NAS, which, in turn, forwarded them to the NIH, which responded by reconvening the RAC, with instruc- tions to convert the Asilomar recommendations into guidelines for researchers who wanted to work with rDNA experiments. This decision initiated what was to become a long and conten- tious debate over the elements that should be included within the guidelines, including debates over the role the general pub- lic should have in developing those guidelines, the proper Background and History 23
- 48. agencies from whom those guidelines should come, how restrictive the final guidelines should be, how important it was to conduct rDNA research at all, and the extent to which the safety of such research could be guaranteed. The first draft of the rDNA guidelines was issued in June 1976, representing a noble effort on the part of the RAC and NIH to satisfy all inter- ested parties. That hope was too optimistic, however, and the committee and the agency continued to work for a number of years on revisions to the guidelines that would become increas- ingly more acceptable to all stakeholders in the debate. The most recent version of the NIH guidelines is a 142-page document that covers virtually every imaginable issue involved in the conduct of rDNA research as of March 2013 (“NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant or Synthetic Nucleic Acid Molecules [NIH Guidelines], March 2013”; for an excellent review of the post-Asilomar activities on the guide- lines, see Fredrickson 2001). History of rDNA Regulation The NIH guidelines on rDNA research issued in 1976 had, according to many critics, one major flaw: they applied only to research funded by the federal government. This flaw prompted a number of members of Congress to consider legis- lation that would extend and perhaps strengthen those guide- lines to include all research of any kind by any entity within the United States. In 1977 alone, for example, 16 discrete bills were introduced into the U.S. Congress on the regulation of rDNA research (see, for example, “Planned Releases of Genetically-Altered Organisms” 1986). That effort did not suc- ceed, however, for a variety of reasons. For one thing, the RAC decided to expand its membership, including more individuals from outside the scientific community and giving critics a greater opportunity to express their views on regulatory issues. Perhaps more important, however, was the growing realization among researchers that rDNA experiments might actually not 24 GMO Food
- 49. be as dangerous as they had feared only a few years earlier. Indeed, the late 1970s and early 1980s saw a number of impor- tant breakthroughs by researchers who followed the NIH guidelines and voluntarily used the greatest precautions in con- ducting their work. As researchers lobbied legislators not to proceed with formal legislation, that avenue of regulation gradually disappeared as an option (McClean 1997). This is not to say that regulatory agencies in the government abandoned their responsibilities to oversee rDNA research under the NIH guidelines. Instead of looking to new legislation for the oversight responsibilities they had, however, they turned to existing laws and regulations and found ways to apply them to the new technology. For example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) was among the first agencies faced with ruling on the use of genetically engineered organisms in agricul- tural projects. To determine whether such projects should be approved or not, they turned to one very old law, the Plant Quarantine Act of 1912, which gave the USDA the authority to regulate plants that might carry pests or diseases that could harm agricultural crops, and the Plant Pest Act of 1957, which had similar provisions for plants imported to the United States (McHughen 2006). The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) followed a similar line, referring applications for the testing of genetically engineered organisms to its Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (Junod 2009). As progress in rDNA research rapidly moved forward in the 1980s, the federal government finally recognized that a more comprehensive and orderly system was needed to regulate research on and release and commercial production of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Thus, in April 1984, President Ronald Reagan appointed a Cabinet Council Working Group (the Working Group) to consist of representatives from all executive departments and the Environmental Protection Agency, Council on Environmental Quality, Council of Economic Advisers, Office of Management and Budget, Office of Science and Technology Policy, White House Office of Policy Background and History 25
- 50. Development, and National Science Foundation. By December, the Working Group had produced a draft document for publica- tion in the Federal Register, to which public comments were invited. As a result of these comments, the Working Group created yet another committee, the Biotechnology Science Coordinating Committee (BSCC), consisting of a smaller group of members more directly concerned with the regulation of GMOs, the commissioner of the FDA, the director of NIH, the assistant secretary of agriculture for marketing and inspection services, the assistant secretary of agriculture for science and edu- cation, the assistant administrator of EPA for pesticides and toxic substances, the assistant administrator of EPA for research and development, and the assistant director of the National Science Foundation for biological, behavioral, and social sciences. This committee reassessed the work of its predecessors and produced yet another version of the Coordinated Framework, which was published in the Federal Register on June 26, 1986 (“Coordinated Framework for Regulation of Biotechnology Products” 1986; Kingsbury 1990). That document dealt with two large issues: research on GMOs and commercial products made from such organisms. The committee divided up the responsibilities for all the con- ceivably possible regulatory needs in these areas among the USDA, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), FDA, NIH, EPA, Food and Safety Inspection Service (FSIS), and Science and Education Administration of USDA (SE). (The appropriate portion of the document is reprinted in Chapter 5.) For example, research on GMOs that could be contained with a laboratory were regulated by the agency pro- viding funding for the research if it were a federal agency and by NIH, SE, and APHIS (or voluntarily by researchers) in the case of funding from nonfederal sources. Just who was responsible for what research in the latter case was the point of an extended discussion in the Coordinated Framework. Similarly, the regulation of commercial GMO foods and food 26 GMO Food
- 51. additives was the responsibility of the FDA in some cases and the FSIS in other cases, whereas the production of pesticides was usually the responsibility of the EPA and, sometimes, APHIS. (For the final document, see “Coordinated Framework” 1986 or, in a more accessible and essentially simi- lar form, Office of Science and Technology Policy 1986.) Interestingly, some local and state governments were moving forward on the regulation of rDNA research, whereas the federal government was working its tortuous way through the issue. As early as 1977, for example, the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, became the first municipality in the world to regu- late rDNA research by adopting a version of the NIH Guidelines for Research Involving DNA Molecules. The provisions of the Cambridge Recombinant DNA Technology Ordinance remain in force today and are administered by the city’s Biosafety Committee (“Recombinant DNA”). The Cambridge ordinance was especially significant because the city is home to one of the largest and most prestigious research institutions in the world, Harvard University, whose activities in the field of rDNA research therefore became subject to city regulation. Shortly after the Cambridge action, a number of cities and states across the nation adopted similar ordinance, also often modeled on the NIH Guidelines. These municipalities included the cities of Emeryville and Berkeley, California (both in 1977); Princeton, New Jersey (1978); Amherst and Waltham, Massachusetts (1978); Boston and Somerville, Massachusetts (1981); and Newton, Massachusetts (1982), and the states of Maryland (1977) and New York (1978). (For details of these ordinances, see Krimsky, Baeck, and Bolduc 1982.) A number of these cities are, like Cambridge, home to major research institutions, including Princeton University, the University of Massachusetts (Amherst), Brandeis University (Waltham), and Boston (the home of many important institutions of higher learning and research companies). Background and History 27
- 52. Breakthroughs in rDNA Research Even as governmental entities at all levels were debating the regulation of rDNA research, scientists interested in the topic were moving forward at a significant rate, making a number of critical breakthroughs in the development of GMOs. In 1977, for example, the genetic engineering firm of Genentech, Inc., announced the creation of the first transgenic organism capable of expressing a human gene. The term transgenic refers to an organism whose genome has been altered by the insertion of DNA from a different species. In this case, a human gene for the production of the compound somatostatin had been inserted into the genome of the bacterium of E. coli, producing a new strain of bacterium that was capable of producing the human hor- mone somatostatin. Somatostatin is a hormone that regulates the endocrine system and affects neurotransmission and cell repro- duction in the human body. The next year, Genetech announced the production of a second transgenic organism, a bacterium car- rying a human gene for the production of the hormone insulin, and in 1978, it reported a third such product, a bacterium engi- neered to synthesize the human growth hormone (HGH). These breakthroughs were significant because they made available for the first time a relatively inexpensive, efficient method for manufacturing a group of extremely important natural products used for the treatment of a variety of human diseases and disorders. Work was progressing apace among researchers who were attempting to produce transgenic plants and animals with other purposes. For example, the first transgenic animal was pro- duced by researchers at Ohio University in 1981 when they injected a gene for the β-globin protein from a rabbit into a mouse. The host mouse and its descendants then produced blood that carried that protein for a number of generations (Wagner et al. 1981). Almost simultaneously, transgenic mice with other characteristics were reported by four other research teams (“Transgenic Mice Formed by Nuclear Injection”). 28 GMO Food
- 53. Over the next three decades, researchers produced a number of transgenic animals for a variety of purposes. Among the most popular lines of research has been the production of genetically engineered mice and rats with introduced genetic traits that can be studied for medical purposes. Other transgenic animals have been developed for other types of research or for purely enter- tainment value. For example, a common line of research has involved the introduction of the gene for the production a pro- tein known as green fluorescent protein (GFP) into a variety of animals. GFP has the specialized property of producing a bright green fluorescence when exposed to light in the blue to ultra- violet range. Researchers sometimes add the gene for GFP to other genes they want to study that are introduced into a host animal. A more mundane application of the technology has been the creation of so-called GloFish that carry the GFP gene and glow in different colors when exposed to light of different wavelengths (Zimmer, “Fluoro Fish”). Other than their use in research and for the production of medical products such as insulin and HGH, transgenic animals have not yet experienced wide use in agricultural or other types of commercial businesses. Such has not been the case at all with transgenic plants. The first such plants were invented almost simultaneously in 1983 by four different research groups. Three of those groups presented papers about their discoveries at a conference in Miami, Florida, in January 1983, whereas the fourth group announced its own discovery at a conference in Los Angeles in April of the same year. The three groups that reported in January had all used similar approaches for the insertion of a gene providing resistance to the antibiotic kana- mycin in tobacco plants, in two cases, and petunia plants, in the third case (Fraley, Rogers, and Horsch 1983, 211–221; Framond et al. 1983, 159–170; Schell et al. 1983, 191–209). The fourth group took a somewhat difference approach and introduced a gene removed from the common bean plant and inserted it into a sunflower plant (Murai et al. 1983, 476– 482; also see “History of Plant Breeding”). (The matter of Background and History 29
- 54. priority in discoveries is often a matter of dispute. For example, some historians credit invention of the first transgenic plant to a European research team because they published their results in a peer-reviewed journal first in May 1983; see Herrera-Estrella et al. 1983.) Again, much of the earliest work on transgenic plants was designed to test a variety of technologies for producing such plants and demonstrating the efficacy of such technologies. The 1983 experiments, for example, were not designed pri- marily for the purpose of producing new strains of tobacco plants or sunflower plants with commercial value to farmers. That step was soon to come, however, when in 1985 a research team at the Belgian company Plant Genetic Systems (now Bayer CropScience) reported that they had developed a geneti- cally engineered tobacco plant that was resistant to attack by insects that normally caused disease in the plant. The key to this discovery was the use of a bacterium commonly found in the soil called Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). Bt also occurs naturally in the gut of caterpillars of various types of moths and butter- flies, on leaf surfaces, in aquatic environments and animal feces, and in human-made environments, such as flour mills and grain storage facilities. Some strains of Bt produce proteins during the process of spore production called δ-endotoxins that are toxic to a large range of insect species. By introducing the gene for the production of Bt into a tobacco plant, the Belgian researchers had created a new form of the plant that was resistant to predators that normally cause disease in the plant (Vaeck et al. 1987). The significance of this technology, of course, is profound. By adding the Bt gene to any type of plant, that plant then becomes resistant to many of the diseases to which it would otherwise be subject. Farmers do not have to spray a field with insecticide to protect a corn, cotton, soybean, or other type of crop carrying the Bt gene, because those crops are now natu- rally resistant to many types of insect-caused diseases. Almost simultaneously and also within a short period of time, other 30 GMO Food
- 55. Another Random Document on Scribd Without Any Related Topics
- 56. schools. The following is an outline of the curriculum used in the Christiania Cathedral School. Religion Class I. (Two hours.) Vogt's Bible History to the fall of the Kingdom of Judah. J. Sverdrup's Commentary to Article 2. Verses of hymns once each week. Class II. (Two hours.) Vogt's Bible History from The Exile to The Story of the Passion. Commentary from Article 2 to The Sacraments. Verses from hymns. Class III. (Two hours.) Bible History and Commentary completed and reviewed. Verses from hymns. Bible reading. Class IV. (One hour.) Y. Brun and Th. Caspari's Church History gone through and reviewed. Cursory study of the ecclesiastical year and the order of divine service. Here we note the beginnings of a more formal consideration of religion. A large part of the work is historical. Texts and lectures covering practically identical grounds form the basis of the work in this branch of study. The change to the more formal study of religion strikes the writer as a distinctive turn or transfer from moderately successful to useless endeavor. The personal touch and human flavor attending the informal telling of Bible stories afford some genuine inspiration. Life touches life. When character is exemplified in a living person or is shown through story once to have had expression in a fellow mortal, interest is awakened and the child instinctively imitates the vision before him. He transforms it into life. He enters into the spirit of the theme and the spirit giveth life. On the other hand, when religion is presented in a formal way, when an abstract view is taken, when the core of the subject is in the cold pages of texts,—then the letter killeth. Through force of habit the children retain some respect for the wishes of the teacher and do go through the motions of study and recitation, but the life of the subject is very soon extinguished and even respect for it vanishes in large measure. However, in rare instances good results are obtained through the efforts of teachers who are especially well qualified for this work.
- 57. The Mother-Tongue and Old Norse Class I. (Five hours.) Pauss and Lassen's Reader II. 2. Some of the Songs of the Fatherland learned by heart. Oral and written analysis. Hofgaard's Norwegian School Grammar, Paragraphs 1-31, 34-38, 41, 45, 48-59, 61, 65, 76-79. The more important part of Hougen's Rules for Correct Writing. Written work (dictation and composition) each week. Class II. (Four hours.) Pauss and Lassen's Reader II. 3. Poems—among them some of the Songs of the Fatherland learned by heart. Hofgaard's Grammar continued, also analyses. One written exercise each week (dictation and easy composition.) Class III. (Alternately three and four hours.) Pauss and Lassen's Reader III. Poems learned by heart—partly from Lassen's Poems for Middle Schools, partly from Songs of the Fatherland. Certain parts of the grammar reviewed. Analyses now and then. About twenty written exercises, among them some dictations. Class IV. (alternating three and four hours.) Pauss and Lassen's Reader III. That portion from which the examination is taken, gone through and partly reviewed. Several poems committed to memory. Fourteen written exercises. Among the topics used the following are typical: The summer vacation, the location of our city, Denmark, past and present lighting systems, animal life in our forests, reminiscences from my earlier school days, birds and why we protect them, the Norsemen as seamen, Christiania in winter garb, Europe's natural conditions in preference to those of other continents. In harmony with the indications of the plan of instruction, the early part of the work in the study of the mother-tongue is devoted to reading from selected texts. Simultaneously, grammar and rhetoric are carried along and put into use in written compositions which are frequent. Here, as in the primary schools, exact spelling, correct grammatical and rhetorical forms, and approved literary style are constant requirements. The child is expected not only to read intelligently, but to express himself orally and in writing in a comprehensive manner and in such form as to appeal to the intelligence of others. Thus both in oral speech and through written composition the pupil is privileged to put his attainments into continuous use. They acquire the tools of thought and skill in handling them.
- 58. German Class I. (Six hours.) Knudsen and Kristiansen's Reader from the beginning to the Subjunctive. Written exercises. Class II. (Five hours.) Knudsen and Kristiansen's Reader from Subjunctive to close of book. Voss' Reader in section A, seventy-six pages, in section B, fifty pages; one-half of these shall be learned by heart. Hofgaard's Short German Grammar the most important forms. Written exercises. Rehearsals. Retroversions. Class III. (Five hours.) Voss' Reader, in section A, seventy-five pages, in section B, fifty-eight. Hofgaard's Short German Grammar, inflections. In section B besides the above, paragraphs 140-148, 156, 169, 179-181. In addition section B shall have thirty-six pages of O. Kristiansen's oral exercises and thirty-two compositions according to O. Kristiansen's exercises in written work. In section A, written exercises, partly according to Kristiansen's outlines for written work and partly reviews of the lessons in the reading book. Class IV. (Five hours.) Voss' Reader in section A, twenty pages, in section B, seventy-five. Repetition of the portion designated for minutest study. The grammar reviewed. One or two written exercises each week according to Kristiansen's outlines. The instruction in German proceeds in a very natural manner. The earlier lessons are devoted very largely to oral instruction in which the teacher takes the lead. Words, phrases, and sentences are given by the teacher for translation and concert repetition. Repetition and concert work are prominent in many places in the schools, but nowhere stressed to the same extent as in their language instruction. Concert work seems to stimulate to freedom in pronunciation, while repetition affords the drill which is necessary to the required accuracy. Having had at least five years of thorough instruction in the mother-tongue the children are able to appreciate in a measure the meaning and importance of verb forms and other features of inflection so that they are ready to do consistent work in this phase of their study. In addition to the translations referred to, conversational exercises are soon introduced, and at the end of the second year some facility in easy conversation is evidenced. Toward the close of the middle school the children are able to read the language with ease and to converse in it quite fluently.
- 59. English Class II. (Five hours.) Brekke's Elementary Reader to page seventy-four, studied and reviewed, besides the grammar in the back of the book. Conversational exercises and written work on the blackboard. During the last half year an occasional written exercise in a book. Class III. (Five hours.) Brekke's Reader for the Middle School, sixty-five pages read and reviewed. Knap's Grammar. One narrative per week. Class IV. (Five hours.) Brekke's Reader for the Middle School. Required portion read and reviewed, while the remainder of the book is gone through and in part read ex tempore. One narrative each week. The study of English proceeds along lines parallel to those followed in the German. The learning of the language is accomplished chiefly through its use. Explanations are made by using the more familiar words of the tongue studied, by circumlocutions, and by other similar practices. Grammar is resorted to as a means rather than an end. It is used only in facilitating the acquisition of the language, not as an end in itself. However, at the close of the course each pupil has become quite proficient in the grammar as well as in reading the language and in conversing in it. History Class I. (Three hours.) Nissen's History of the World by Sehjoth, from the beginning until Scandinavia in the Middle Ages. Class II. (Two hours.) Text as in Class I. From Scandinavia in the Middle Ages to Modern Times. Class III. (Three hours.) Same Text. From Charles V to The February Revolution. Review. Class IV. (Three hours.) Same Text. Reviewed in its entirety. The course in history is very rich and its study is entered into with animation. The teacher is usually a master in the subject and he makes the work of great profit. A considerable amount of the class period is devoted to a vivid and analytic introduction of the work to be done at the next meeting of the class, preparation for which shall be made in the
- 60. meantime. Problems are presented and purposes are indicated so that the preparatory study may be done with some definite end in view. All facts of history are placed in appropriate settings and perspective, correlated into a unity, and given vital meaning. Maps, charts, and pictorial illustrations are provided in abundance and used constantly. Frequently historic scenes near at hand or known to the pupils are pointed out, minutely described, and visited. Teachers appeal to the sentiment of pupils with the aim of begetting loyalty for the fatherland in the hearts and minds of the young. I have heard instructors grow eloquent as they warmed up on phases of Norway's history, and have noted the flushed cheeks and snapping eyes of the children that bespoke the national pride of the young hearts as familiar words, slogans, and songs of their heroes were quoted. When given an opportunity—a common occurrence—the pupils enter into the rehearsal of historic events with enthusiasm. Every mind in the room is active. They are awake to the situations and are familiar with the scenes and literature connected with the several stages of development. Replies given in response to questions from the teacher are nearly always in the form of narratives, sometimes occupying ten or fifteen minutes. General history or history of any foreign country is entered into in a spirit similar to that characterizing the consideration of their own. On one occasion I listened to a review on American history. Among the characters taken up were Grant, Lee, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Lincoln. The pupils discussed Uncle Tom's Cabin with familiarity, Lee was considered as The Napoleon of America, but Lincoln was the one to whom most of the class period was devoted. At the close of the hour the teacher announced a lecture on Abraham Lincoln for the following Sunday evening in the Working-Men's College (Arbeiderakademi)[24] of which he was the director. This incident illustrates the way in which they correlate the work of different educational organizations, and shows their interest in the important events connected with the history of other nations. Geography Class I. (Two hours.) Arstal's Geography. Norway and Sweden. Review.
- 61. Class II. (Two hours.) Arstal's Geography. From The Central European Mountains and Rivers to Asia. Studied and reviewed. Class III. (Two hours.) Arstal's Geography. The foreign continents. Studied and reviewed. Class IV. (Two hours.) Arstal's Geography. Repeated or reviewed in its entirety. Two books are used in the study of this subject. One is made up entirely of well designed, carefully drawn, and thoroughly reliable maps, printed on a good quality of paper. The other is a text giving a good logical statement of what the course is calculated to include. The teacher must provide the major portion of the information by his own initiative and through cooperation of pupils. Illustrative material (Anskuelsesmidler) is provided in great abundance and in diversified variety. An effort is made to impart to the pupils a satisfactory appreciation of the conditions prevailing in the countries considered. Their colonization, commerce, products, topography, political subdivisions, cities, population, river and mountain systems, climate, etc., are all carefully studied. The course begins with the geography of Norway. Next foreign lands and conditions are taken up and compared to situations at home. When the various countries on the globe have been kept for a time before the eyes, a thorough review is given which occupies the greater portion of the last year in the middle school course. Mathematics Class I. (Five hours.) Numbers resolved into factors. Fractions. Some Proportion. Class II. (Five hours.) Algebra: Bonnevie and Eliassen's text. From beginning to division. Geometry: Bonnevie and Eliassen's text. From beginning to right lines divided into equal parts. Arithmetic: Proportion and percentage. Class III. (Five hours.) Algebra: Bonnevie and Eliassen's text. From division to equations with two unknowns. Geometry: Bonnevie's text. From parallelograms to Book IV. Drill in percentage and interest.
- 62. Class IV. (Five hours.) Algebra: Bonnevie and Eliassen's text. From equations with two unknowns to close of book. Geometry: Bonnevie's text. From Book IV to close of text. Review of entire text. Drill in computing solids and other miscellaneous problems. A few hours devoted to bookkeeping. One of the most favorable features of their instruction in mathematics is the intimate connection they make between the several phases of the subject. Arithmetic, algebra, and geometry are never wholly separated from each other. They are in reality interwoven and so definitely correlated that each contributes to the others. By constant use the several processes become familiar tools in the mental activities of the pupils. Mastery of the principles of the science and ability in their use are the ends to be attained. The outline of the course indicates the extent of the field receiving attention. It is sufficient to say that the topics are all made to appear plain, definite, and vital; and that they are assimilated, and do become parts of the growing life. Nature Study (Natural Science) Class I. (Three hours.) Botany: Sorensen's text. Written descriptions of about twenty-five plant forms. Zoology: Vertebrates according to Sorensen's text. Class II. (Two hours.) Botany: Sorensen's text. From The Sunflower Family to Plant Structure. Plant analysis. Zoology: Sorensen's text. Invertebrates. Review from treatise on insects to close of book. Class III. (Two hours.) Zoology and botany reviewed. Plant analysis. Henrichsen's Physics. From beginning to Properties of Air. Class IV. (Three hours.) Henrichsen's Physics studied through and reviewed with related laboratory work. Knudsen and Falch's The Human Body I studied and reviewed. The plan of work, as noted, includes botany, zoology, physics, and human physiology. Each subject is taken up and pursued in a consistent manner. In botany plant analysis and structure form the important part of the work. A herbarium is made by each pupil. The study is brought very definitely into the daily lives of the children with the intent of opening their eyes to the conditions in nature about them and of developing in
- 63. them an appreciation of the almost unlimited provision made for man's welfare. Zoology and physiology are treated in a similar way. They are calculated to enrich the life of the individual by bringing him into more sympathetic relations with all living forms. In physics the child does some experimental work and thereby gets first hand experience to accompany, clarify, and assist in evaluating the elaborated instruction of the teacher regarding forces, phenomena, and laws. It was interesting to note in a recitation chiefly devoted to experimental work that the language used in conversation was carefully scrutinized and that errors were corrected. Throughout the curriculum a very definite effort is made to utilize every phase of information possessed by the pupils. IV. GYMNASIUM Religion Class I. (One hour.) Selected hymns, and chapters from the prophet Isaiah. Class II. (One hour.) Short survey of church history. Brandrud's text used by some of the pupils. Class III. (Two hours.) Short presentation of the Christian faith and ethics, without text. Survey of designated portions of John's Gospel, the Epistle to the Romans, and Revelations. The instruction in religion is commonly given by the city pastors. While all of these men are highly educated, many of them lack the ability to awaken the minds of the pupils to an active interest in the subject. No examination in religion is required in the gymnasium. As a result of the formality in this teaching and the lack of incentives generally, the members of the classes are listless and inattentive. I insert a note that I made in reference to one class in which I was a visitor. Most of the class was listless all of the time and all of them most of the time. I have on a few occasions heard short and irrelevant remarks made by pupils in response to direct questions by the instructor, and among the pupils it is accounted no reflection whatever if any of their number states that he
- 64. knows nothing regarding the situation under discussion. The work appears altogether void of interest and without profit. It seems almost pathetic that a subject of such importance should have its richness of content dissipated and wasted through lack of incentives or by reason of unsuccessful methods of presentation. My observation of the work from the beginning of the primary school through all the classes up to the completion of the gymnasium convinces me that the personal and concrete presentations in the lower grades are very successful but that the formal, authoritative work in the secondary schools is little more than failure. Norwegian Class I. A and B (Four hours.) Pauss and Lassen's Reader IV. 1. Njael's saga. Holberg's The Busybodies and Peter Paars. Part of Ohlenschlager's Aladdin. Baggesen's Noureddin to Aladdin. Hertz's Svend Dyring's House. Also in A, Ibsen's Vikings at Helgeland; in B, Ibsen's The Feast at Solhaug; Bjornson's Synnove Solbakken. Landsmaal. Garborg and Mortensen's Reader for Higher Schools. About forty pages from Aasen, Janson, Sivle, etc. Fourteen compositions in each class. Assigned exercises: Impressions from the summer vacations; what do we learn from Njaal's saga regarding life and customs in Iceland about the year one thousand; a characteristic of the Busybodies by Holberg; Christiania as a city of manufacture and industry; a comparison between the east and west of Norway with references to nature and commerce; a painting I like; Norway as a tourist land; do not put off until tomorrow what you can do today; why could not the Persians conquer the Greeks; the dark sides of city life; what circumstances have combined in giving the Norsemen high ranking as seamen? Class II. R. G. (Five hours.) History of Literature through the literature of the North, folk songs, a collection of Danish and Norwegian ballads, selections from Asbjornsen, Moe, and Holberg. Romance poetry, some read minutely and the rest cursorily. Consideration of Aasen and the Landsmaal movement. Sixty pages of Garborg and Mortenson's
- 65. Landsmaal. About twenty pages of Old Norse from Nygaard's beginner's book. Written exercises, frequently on topics of interest. Besides all this each pupil must give a discussion on a self-selected theme before the class. Class II. L-H. (Six and five hours.) Holberg's Erasmus Montanus. Wessel's Kjaerlighed uden Stromper (Love without Stockings.) History of literature to about one thousand, eight hundred. Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. In the Landsmaal selections from Garborg and Mortenson's Reader (excepting folk songs.) Old Norse: Nygaard's beginner's book. Some pages from Thor to Utgard. Twelve written exercises on important literary, historical, and industrial subjects. Class III. R. G. (Four hours.) History of literature from Holberg down to the present. Read scrutinizingly selected writings of Holberg, Ohlenschlager, Wergeland, Welhaven, Asbjornsen and Ibsen. In the Landsmaal read from Garborg and Mortenson's Reader and the writings of Vinje. In the Old Norse read the remainder of Nygaard's beginner's book. History of language and history of literature. Many written exercises, largely literary and historical topics. Class III. L-H. (Five and four hours.) Special study of selections specified as examination material including the writings of Holberg, Wergeland, and Welhaven. Landsmaal from Garborg and Mortenson's Reader. History of Literature. History of Language. Twelve written compositions on important topics. The work in literature throughout the gymnasium deals with the masterpieces of the language in an analytic and critical way. The aims are to familiarize the pupils with the best productions in the language, to acquaint them with the lives and historical relations of their authors, and to develop literary appreciation and style. Accordingly many writers are included, translations of world classics are utilized, history of literature in its connections with general history receives attention, and ability in composition is encouraged and required. Eddas, sagas, and the more important productions from successive periods are studied in minute detail. The Landsmaal is not neglected. When any piece of literature is under discussion, related historical events; references to other literary productions, characters, myths, etc.; the life of the author; and many other important points are considered exhaustively.
- 66. The intricacies of the language are sought out in patience and made familiar. Every known device for completing the literary background is utilized. Since the literature of the country is a part of the life of its citizens, no effort is required to secure intense interest in the work. In the linguistic-historical course more time is devoted to this branch of instruction than is given to it in the real and Latin courses. The quality or class of work is essentially the same though the quantity is necessarily less in the two latter courses. A definite effort is made to place each pupil in possession of the culture represented in the national literature. German Class I. A and B (Three hours.) Gundersen's German for the Gymnasiums. A, sixty-seven pages, B, seventy-five pages, consisting of the following titles: Die Sanger, Die Burgschaft, Der Ring des Polykrates Der Handschuh, Die Sonne Bringt es an den Tag, Die Goldene Repetieruhr, Wie der Meisenseppe Gestorben ist, Umzingelt, Der Stumme Ratsherr, Zur Geschichte des 30-jahrigen Krieges, Landsknecht and Soldat. In B review the more important features of syntax in O. Kristiansen's Grammatical Exercises. Once every week a written review of a lesson read. Class II. (Three hours.) Gundersen's German for Gymnasiums, about one hundred pages. Fifteen written exercises, partly reproductions of new matter and partly write-ups of what has been studied. In real gymnasium some supplementary assignments in addition (Das Schneeschuhlaufen, Die Lage Kristianias, etc.) Class III. (Alternating three and four hours.) Gundersen's German for Gymnasiums. Reading finished and the greater part of it reviewed. Every second week a written review covering two consecutive hours. German is recognized as the language of a great neighbor nation and is assiduously studied. Much time has been spent in the middle school in acquiring the language and now three years are used in introducing the pupils into the thought-life and culture of the nation through the inner contact of its literature. Some of Germany's more important authors are studied rather exhaustively. An endeavor is also put forth to become familiar with the most remarkable events in the history of that Empire.
- 67. Through this advanced treatment they perfect their knowledge of the language as such, and further their ability to converse in the foreign tongue. French Class I. A (Four hours.) After the more important parts of phonology, Hermanstorff and Wallem's Reader in French for the Gymnasium I. pp. 18- 108. The most essential parts of the grammar, together with many exercises in translation. While reviewing, special emphasis is placed upon reading exercises. Class I. B (Four hours.) Hermanstorff and Wallem's Reader I pp. 1-55 read and reviewed, together with the corresponding translations from Norwegian p. 109 ff. In addition pages 98-108 are read and reviewed and most of the remaining exercises are gone through cursorily. Wallem's Vocabulary Part I. 1 and Part V. 6-9 are studied. Class II. R. G. (Two hours.) Hermanstorff and Wallem's Reader II pp. 1-31 and 104-112. Grammar drill by references to synopses of grammar in the beginner's book. Wallem's Vocabulary Part I. 1 and V. 6-10 studied and reviewed. Class II. Lang. (With Latin five hours, without Latin four hours.) Hermanstorff and Wallem's Reader. Division without Latin about eighty pages, consisting of Part I., the last section and Part II selections for A, I- VI for B, III, IV, VII, XI. Division with Latin, the same amount excepting B, VII and XI. Wallem's Vocabulary, review V. 6-9. Class III. R. G. (Two hours.) Hermanstorff and Wallem's Reader, about eighty pages. Class III. Lang. (Three hours.) Hermanstorff and Wallem's Reader I, the last section and II for A, I-X and for B, I-XIII with the exception of a few selections such as X in A which is read only cursorily. As exercise in ex tempore translation use Duruy's History of France. About the same amount of French is taken in the Latin as in the real course of study though it is carried but for two years in the former and three in the latter.[25] More time is provided for it in the linguistic-historical course then in either of the others. Reference to the table on page 171
- 68. will indicate exactly the amount of time used and its distribution throughout the years. The French language is not as closely related to the Norwegian as are the German and English. Greater variations are noted both in pronunciation and in vocabulary. Almost universally the Norwegians regard it as the most difficult of the three foreign languages to acquire. The study of French is not begun until the pupils enter the gymnasium when they are fourteen or fifteen years old. English and German are begun three and four years before French. The teachers believe that a mistake is made in not beginning the study of French earlier. It is worthy of note that the Norwegian pedagogues who have tried beginning instruction in the languages at different times in the school course are definitely of the opinion that to begin the study of a foreign language early is a distinct advantage. It seems to the writer that American schools might profit by this experience and introduce the study of languages in the lower grades. TABLE XI Course of study showing weekly hours in Christiania Cathedral School (1910-1911).
- 69. GYMNASIUM Courses Real Language- History Latin Middle School Classes 3 2 1 3 2 1 3 2 1 IV. III. II.I. Religion 2 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 2 2 Norwegian 4 5 4 5 6 4 4 5 4 3- 1/2 3- 1/2 4 5 German 3-1/2 3 3 3-1/2 3 3 3-1/2 3 3 5 5 5 6 French 2 2 4 3 4 4 0 5 4 English 2 2 4 7 7 4 2 2 4 5 5 5 Latin 11 7 History 3 3 3 5 5 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 3 Geography 2 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 2 2 2 2 Mathematics 6 6 4 2 2 4 2 2 4 5 5 5 5 Natural Science 5 5 4 1 1 4 1 1 4 3 2 2 3 Writing 1/2 1/2 1 2 Drawing 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 Vocal Music 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Gymnastics 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 Manual Training 2 2 2 2 Total 35- 1/2 353535-1/2 35 35 35- 1/2 353536 36 3636 English Class I. (Four hours.) Brekke and Western's Selections from English Authors for the First Gymnasium. The regulation sixty pages (matter from which examination is taken) is read and reviewed. Forty pages ex tempore. One synopsis or reproduction each second week. Knudsen's English Prepositions and Synonyms.
- 70. Class II. R. G. and Latin (Two hours.) Brekke and Western's Selections for Second and Third Classes in the Real Gymnasium. Sixty-seven pages read and reviewed in part. Ex tempore: Called Back of Conwoy. Class II. L-H. (Seven hours.) Brekke and Western's Selections from English Authors for Second and Third Linguistic-Historical Classes, one hundred and sixty pages. Merchant of Venice, Act I. Most of Brigadier Gerard by Conan Doyle. Western's English Institutions gone through. Otto Anderssen's History of Literature to Bacon. Written exercises each week. Class III. R. G. (Two hours.) Anderssen and Eitrem's Selection of English Classics, thirty-three pages. The portion from which selections are taken for the final examination (Artium Examen) reviewed in its entirety. Ex tempore: Called Back of Conwoy. Class III. L-H. (Seven hours.) Brekke and Western's Reader. Obligatory, Selections 3, 4, 16, 17, 11, 19. From Otto Anderssen's English Literature the required amount: Swift, Byron, Thackeray, Merchant of Venice. O. Anderssen's History of English Literature. Western's English Institutions. Written work each week. Class III. Latin (Two hours.) Anderssen and Eitrem's Selection of English Classics, forty-five pages. Review of selections from which examinations are taken. The connections the Norwegians sustain with the English speaking world are, perhaps, stronger than those binding them to any other people. Norway has close commercial associations with both England and America, and rarely does one find a family in Norway without near relatives in one or both countries. As a consequence, more than usual interest attaches to the study of English. Strenuous efforts are now being made to introduce it into the curriculum of the elementary school, and such change will probably be effected at an early date. According to the present plan those who graduate from the gymnasium have studied English six or seven years and have gained
- 71. a fairly definite knowledge of it. They are able to read fluently and converse with ease. They have become familiar also with much of the best English literature, and through it have been brought into close touch with the life and culture of the English speaking peoples. Latin Class II. Latin (Seven hours.) Schreiner's Short Grammar. Inflection and some of the rules of syntax. Ording's elementary book. Ording's Latin Reading Selections, pp. 1-36. Written exercises each week. Class III. Latin (Eleven hours.) Schreiner's Latin Reading Selections, pp. 30-67 and 73-88. Livy XXII., chapters 4, 9-15, 16-18, 19-28, 42- 55. Cicero in Verrem IV., sections 1-14, 60-70, 72-81, 105-115. Schreiner's Short Grammar: Syntax. Forty written translations. Latin is included in the curricula of only about one-half of the gymnasia of Norway.[26] It is taught by competent teachers who appeal to the interests of the pupils through related history and literature, and through promise of linguistic excellence. The work is gone into thoroughly, drill is constant, and readiness in response is demanded. Despite the excellent quality of instruction there is a general feeling among the Norwegians that the study of Latin does not yield the immediate and substantial returns coming from other kinds of study. While they recognize that for advanced work in certain lines Latin is a prerequisite, they are convinced that, outside of those special lines of learning, contemporary tongues, history, biology, industrial chemistry, and other scientific subjects are more beneficial. As a consequence this branch of study is on the decline. History Class I. (Three hours.) Ancient history as treated in Raeder's text. History of the middle ages up to the second division from Schjoth and Lange's General History.
- 72. Class II. R. G. and Latin (Three hours.) Schjoth and Lange's General History. History of the Middle Ages and of Modern times until the Vienna Congress. History of Scandinavia until 1720. Survey of its more important portions—oral or written. Class II. L-H. (Five hours.) History of the Middle ages down to the French Revolution from Schjoth and Lange's General History. History of Scandinavia to 1720. In addition use two hours per week in historical readings including such topics as the feudal system, medieval poetry, the university, Venice, craftsmen and merchants in the middle ages, Fredrik II., Hanseatics and aristocracy in the north, William Pitt. Class III. L-H. (Five hours.) Schjoth and Lange's General History finished. Scandinavian history in the nineteenth century. Review of all requirements. Taranger's Social Conditions or Civics. Historical readings including introduction to the French Revolution, state rights in Norway, general culture and political development in our time, Norway in 1814, historical events. Class III. Real and Latin. (Three hours.) History of Norway since the treaty of Kiel in 1814, and the history of Europe after the Vienna Congress, using Schjoth and Lange's General History. The more important features are presented in oral synopses. Besides this Taranger's Civil Government of Norway. The study of history in the gymnasium builds very definitely upon the foundations laid in the primary and middle schools. The supposition is that the pupils are by this time capable of getting from texts the information they contain. The class periods are devoted partially to texts of lesson preparation, but mostly to free discussion and to presentation of relevant material by the instructor. Bits of information regarding the private life of historical characters, minor incidents in their careers, and varied personal touches given by the teacher infuse spirit and vitality into the entire course. The lessons are brought directly home to the pupils and they are able to appreciate the fact that they are
- 73. inheritors of past accomplishments and participants in present activities. Some of the most interesting and enthusiastic recitations I visited were in history. All through the course in history Norway is given first attention and consideration. Its history is begun first, all along it is made the center around which the history of other nations is grouped, and finally it is given the concentrated, mature, and crowning efforts of those pursuing the long course of instruction. The closing year is generally devoted to a study of social and political conditions in the fatherland. Norway's constitution with its many provisions and administrative features of government (general and local) is given to the youths in clear, concrete, and concise presentations. Upon leaving the gymnasium the young people, therefore, are in a position to appreciate the meaning, privileges, and responsibilities of citizenship. While they have their affections centered in their native land, they are able to comprehend the relative accomplishments, standing, and conditions of other countries. Geography Class I. (One hour.) Haffner's Physical Geography. Class II. (One hour.) Steen's Mathematical Geography. Completed and reviewed. Class III. (Two hours.) Arstal's Economic Geography. Review all requirements. The gymnasial course in geography includes physical geography, astronomy, and political geography. It is rich and profitable. Under the head of physical geography are included such topics as physiography, petrography, dynamic geology, history of the world's development, the earth's surface, oceanography, and the atmosphere. While only a general survey of the respective fields is possible, the pupils obtain a pretty fair grasp of fundamentals and feel that they have a very good and adequate idea of what their home—the earth—really is.
- 74. The work in astronomy or mathematical geography, as it is frequently called, is concerned chiefly with the earth's place in the universe, the Copernican system, Keppler's laws, the moon, the earth (form, size, and motion), the celestial world in general, the sun's apparent motion, the sun as a measurer of time, etc., etc. Political geography provides acquaintance with the earth in special reference to man's presence and welfare. It treats of his means of livelihood, ways of communication, and the conditions under which he colonizes, builds up cities, and develops generally. Mathematics Class I. (Four hours.) Algebra: Bonnevie and Berg's text. From beginning to Series. Geometry: Bonnevie and Sorensen's text. Entire text covered and reviewed. Examples at home and at school. Class II. Real (Six hours.) Algebra: Bonnevie and Berg's text. From Series to end of text. Trigonometry: Johannesen's text. Completed and reviewed. Stereometry: Guldberg's text. Completed and reviewed. Analytical Geometry: Guldberg's text. From beginning to The Ellipse. Problems at home and at school. Class II. Linguistic (Two hours.) Algebra: Bonnevie and Berg's text. Series. Trigonometry: O. Johannesen's text. Solving of problems. Class III. Real (Six hours.) Guldberg's Analytical Geometry. E. Holst's Higher Arithmetical Series. Review of all requirements in real course. Solution of problems. Class III. Linguistic (Two hours.) Review of the entire requirement. Examples at home and at school. In addition to completing the work begun in the middle school in arithmetic, algebra, and geometry; instruction in the gymnasium includes trigonometry, stereometry, analytical geometry, and higher arithmetical series. The methods of instruction are the same as those used in the middle school though, of course, adapted to the greater maturity and stronger mentality of the pupils. By the time
- 75. pupils enter the gymnasium considerable ability should have been gained in working independently. Where necessary, the teacher cooperates in solving problems and makes sure that the principles involved are thoroughly understood. Frequently during the recitation period several members of the class are called to the blackboard, one at a time, to perform operations under consideration. As the pupil develops the problem he explains every step taken as he proceeds. The other pupils observe closely, take notes, and offer suggestions. The instructor carefully supervises every move, giving explanations when necessary not permitting erasures or leaving any operation until all in the class understand fully. In this way hearty cooperation is secured. Every mind is actively engaged and the excellent results testify of the validity of the method. Work in analytical geometry and higher arithmetical series is taken only by those in the real course of instruction. Natural History Class I. (Four hours.) Chemistry: Waage's The Chemistry of Daily Life. Gone through and reviewed. Physiology: Knudsen and Falch's The Human Body II. Studied and reviewed. Class II. Real (Five hours.) Isaachsen's Physics. From the beginning to Heat. Review after having carefully studied. Exercises at home and at school. Botany: Th. Resvoll's text. Completed and reviewed. Class II. Linguistic (One hour.) Botany: Resvoll's text. Completed and reviewed. Class III. Real (Five hours.) Isaachsen's Physics. From Heat to end of text. Entire text reviewed. Zoology: Chr. Bonnevie's text. Studied and reviewed. Botany: Th. Resvoll's text reviewed. Class III. Linguistic (One hour.) Zoology: Chr. Bonnevie's text. Studied and reviewed. Botany: Th. Resvoll's text reviewed.
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