This article has been submitted to a Popular Environment
Awareness Magazine

Weather Warfare

S.K.T. Nasar

Human control over weather could lead to weaponising the weather with unprecedented powers of devastation far greater than those of atomic and hydrogen bombs.

 

Weather fluctuations

Natural weather fluctuations are routine. Weather variations may sometimes show abrupt transitions from one state to another. Seasonal variations and sudden weather alterations are triggered by internal drivers such as atmospheric concentration CO₂ and other greenhouse gases, temperature and salinity of oceans, volcanic eruptions et cetera. External causes, in contrast, include astronomical factors like variations in the energy output from the sun, gravity waves and conditions of the ionosphere.

Livelihood, agriculture, economy and culture of human habitats are essentially dependent on local weather. Erratic weather potentially creates havoc. Humans have learnt to evade weather extremes by innovations in dwelling houses, appropriate clothes, water reservoirs, air conditioning and suitable cropping systems. Another strategy is to control the weather for human welfare.

Measures to harness weather to advantage already exist. The downside, however, is that the control of weather could be used as a weapon to subdue adversaries.

Weather & Climate

The difference between weather and climate is simply a measure of time. Climate is the manifestation of average weather pattern in a given geographical area usually measured for every 3 decades. Weather includes sunshine, rain, cloud cover, wind, hailstorm, flooding, blizzard, heat or cold wave and more. Weather shapes the atmosphere during short spans. Climate denotes the synthesis of weather averaged usually over a 30-year period.

Climate Change is, thus, fundamentally about changes in long-term averages of daily weather in a given area. For example, a significant shortage of rainfall than the average of previous years leads to a drier season. Shortage of precipitation over several years indicates climate change. On the contrary, a very heavy downpour within a short time causes flash floods. Such a weather fluctuation is not indicative of climate change. Both quantity and duration of weather fluctuations are taken into account while analysing climate change.

Human activity and climate

Environmental components include the atmosphere or the air, the hydrosphere or the water, the lithosphere or the rocks and soil and the biosphere, the living organism. Wide-ranging evidences show that human activity causes inadvertent long-term weather modifications and climate change.  Industrial emissions of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere trigger acid rains harmfully affecting freshwater bodies, agricultural crops and infrastructure. Several pollutants destroy the quality of air, water and soil. Climate change caused by human activities set off extreme weather events such as extreme temperatures, drought, flooding, high winds, global warming and severe storms. Depletion of ozone layer in the stratosphere is already a hazard to humanity.

Climate debates evading vital concerns

Climate change is in universal focus with an overload of endless debates and costly action plans.  Unpardonably, however, two aspects namely (a) climate change due to conflicts and wars, and (b) deliberate manipulations of weather as a weapon of wars are omitted from discussions. Reports by the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize winning International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) do not even acknowledge the influence of conflicts, wars and weather warfare on weather disruptions and climate change. Other official international fora such as Paris Climate Summit of November 2015 have also evaded these concerns. World citizens’ organisations are, however, working hard to expose weather warfare activities secretly pursued by nations.

Authority over weather

All cultures express faith that entities from other planets with powers of controlling our planet’s weather indeed exist. These extra-terrestrial beings are worshipped by many societies. Most polytheist religions have their weather gods, goddesses, and deities. Indra, for example, is the god of rain and thunderstorms in Hinduism. Ancient Alien theorists are gathering proofs that, in fact, the aliens have powers of controlling the climatic conditions on planet earth.

Playing god has been a human endeavour since time immemorial. Consequently, human mind has been occupied with the desire of acquiring power of controlling the weather. The human race has achieved some success in this endeavour. The openly declared idea is that human control over weather shall be used exclusively for the good of all. The hidden agenda in the garb of secrecy, on the contrary, is that human control of weather should be clandestinely used as a weapon in wars and conflicts. Initial successes have lead to a rat-race for controlling local-to-global weather. Controlling the weather would provide the means for weaponising the weather to subdue chunks of humanity. Weather warfare has the potential of unprecedented devastation. Weather War technology is often nicknamed as Environmental Modification (ENMOD), Geoengineering or the Death Technology.

Weather Warfare

Weather warfare is the deliberate application of weather modification techniques for military purposes or for terrorism. Some of these methods are fundamentally upscaling simple procedures. Fogging on theatre stages or for eradication of mosquitoes in neighborhoods is a common sight. Fogging with toxic chemicals on huge scales through aircrafts or missiles could become an instrument of war. Large scale spraying of pesticides over crop fields or for control of locust breeding is routine. The same method when used to spray particular chemicals above the cloud line in the sky would become a warfare technique. Several comparable instances exist.

Upscaling costs

Weather modification involves suppression or intensification of weather patterns and, in some cases, the creation of completely new weather conditions. Upscaling simple techniques to warfare weaponry for modern and future wars requires huge expenditure, cutting edge technological skill, colossal manpower, time and complete secrecy. Effective use of these weapons shall have to be secretly executed. Nations with high investment capacity with top secret mission control system and classified documentation set-up are able to weaponise weather. Poor nations can only be the victims. The victims of weather wars would not even be able to identify the perpetrators; simple folks would believe the devastations to be the acts of the gods.

Weaponising the weather prohibited

Environmental modification (ENMOD) is officially prohibited. The 1977 Geneva Convention on Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques forbids "widespread, long-lasting or severe effects as the means of destruction, damage or injury". Therefore, it is officially claimed that ENMOD shall be employed exclusively for "local, non-permanent changes". Clandestine weather warfare is, thus, a by-product of developments to use weather modification techniques for peacetime missions.

Illustrative instance of weather warfare

US mathematician John von Neumann had suggested in the late 1940s that ENMOD is exploitable as ‘forms of climatic warfare as yet unimagined’. An in-depth understanding of natural phenomena creating the weather will give out clues to controlling the weather. Some intervention tools exist today and newer ones are being developed and refined for the future.

Rain and fog

Cloud in varied type and expanse is seen in all seasons everywhere. Condensed water vapour forming a visible suspended mass of liquid droplets or frozen crystals in the cooler strata of the atmosphere forms the cloud that may also contain different chemicals. Clouds hover at heights ranging from 6,500-20,000 ft from earth’s surface. Clouds form usually with the water vapor concentrating around condensation nuclei such as dust, ice, and salt. Aerosols of tiny particles of various origins, abundantly present in the atmosphere, serve as condensation nuclei. Super cooling of the cloud forms ice crystals heavy enough to drop down as rain. A little less cold condition results in formation of water drops pulled down on earth by gravity. The ice crystal warms up due to friction to form water drops during its passage through the atmosphere. Very large aggregates of ice crystals are only partially converted to water while the rest reaches the earth as hails.

Cloud and fog are fundamentally the same but for their placement above the earth’s surface; the cloud hangs higher up in the cool strata whereas fog covers the space of a few feet from the ground level. Fog is a low lying cloud which is greatly influenced by local topography, water bodies and wind conditions. Smoke and particulate matter when suspended with fog creates the smog. Fog obstructs visibility on surface of earth; clouds obscure sunlight. In principle it is a simple technology to spread chemicals best suited to act as condensation nuclei in the uppermost layers of a cloud to create rain. Similar treatment will make fog to precipitate and disappear.

Cloud seeding and rain making

Cloud seeding is all about scattering either dry ice or, more commonly, silver iodide aerosols into upper part of cloud to create condensation nuclei stimulating raindrop formation to hasten rainfall. Most rainfall starts through the growth of ice crystals from super-cooled cloud droplets below the freezing point in the upper parts of clouds. Silver iodide particles encourage the growth of new ice particles.

Rain making technology was used in Operation Popeye of the US military as a weapon in the 1967-1972 Vietnam War. Cloud seeding was executed over the Ho Chi Minh trail to prolong the monsoon in 1967-1968 to increase the rainfall by about 30%. The operation yielded flash flooding thereby obstructing the movements of Vietnamese soldiers. Crop fields and villages were also adversely affected. On an average the monsoon season was extended 30 to 45 days. Common people considered too much rain as a natural disaster.

In India, the Centre for Atmospheric Sciences and Weather Modification Technologies (CASWMT) of Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad induced cloud-seeding operations over 600 mandals in 12 districts during 2004-08. They succeeded in achieving good rainfall enhancement that saved crops at critical times. Results from Maharashtra (India), Mexico, Thailand, China and South Africa were encouraging. In these operations starting in 2005, mini-rockets loaded with chemicals to increase cloud condensation and precipitation were shot upwards to promising clouds. These exemplify weather control for public wellbeing whereas Operation Popeye typifies Weather Warfare.

Cloud seeding experimenters losing control may cause unintended consequences. Project Cumulus cloud seeding experiments over southern England conducted by the British Royal Air Force in 1949-1952 is blamed for the flood in the Devon village of Lynmouth in 1952 causing 34 deaths and destruction. More recently, an example of weather control was seen during the preparation for the Summer Olympic Games in China. Approximately 1,104 rain dispersal rockets from 21 sites were shot at clouds overhanging Beijing to keep rainfall away from the opening ceremony on 8 August 2008.

Defogging and creating cyclones

Malaysia reportedly signed an agreement with Russia in 1997 for use of technology to dissipate excess fog which would also allow them to create cyclones. Reduction of fog that obstructed visibility was achieved during the Vietnam War by US forces who dropped salt on the airbase during the siege of Khe Sanh. Artificial fog may also be produced by colossal scale fogging machines. The artificial foggers may be used as weapon simply by spraying toxic fumes. Many countries such as United States, China, Russia, and Mexico are already modifying the weather.

Contrail and Chemtrail

Contrails are common. Chemtrails are a part of Climate Engineering for welfare or for weather war.

A contrail is easily visible. The engines of a jet plane traversing the sky at altitudes of 30,000 feet and above compress the air into water vapor and ice crystals; this forms the visible cloudy trails, the contrails. Contrails disappear within a minute due to the evaporation of its water. Contrails may remain visible for up to 20 minutes in calm weather with the broadened tail vanishing first. A contrail may contain some sulphur and carbon particles in addition to ice crystals.

‘Chemtrail’ is a recent term. Chemtrail and contrail are similar at the first glance. However, the chemtrail remains visible for about five to eight hours spreading out to form a hazy cloud bank. A keen observer can see chemtrails crisscrossing the skyline.

Chemtrails are believed to contain undeclared substances sprayed over populated areas from jets. Some chemtrails allegedly contain unknown biological components. It is now known that many chemtrails pollute the sky with aluminum, barium, lead, arsenic, chromium, cadmium, selenium and silver reaching earth’s surface with raindrops. These chemicals add to human health problems including neurological effects, heart damage, eyesight issues, reproduction failures, immune system damage, gastrointestinal disorders, damaged kidney, damaged liver, hormonal problems, and more. Animals, fish and plants are also affected in varied degrees. More toxic and radioactive chemicals contained in chemtrails may result in devastating effects. Owners of chemtrail technologies inform the public that they are spraying chemtrails for pollution reduction. On the contrary, there are many reports of increased diseases, especially lung diseases, in areas where there are chemtrails.

HAARP and Tesla Death Ray

HAARP (abbreviation for High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program) is the most talked about futuristic technology for weather manipulation via the ionosphere. This can be used to control weather, almost all human activities and even human mind.

Simply speaking, sun’s energy in the form of electromagnetic waves passes through the ionosphere and then strikes the surface of the earth.  This energy when reflected back to the ionosphere shall create havoc. Alternatively, and more practicably, similar devastating effect would result when enormous amounts of energy generated on earth is beamed in to the ionosphere.  This beam of energy is nicknamed Tesla Death Ray named after an all time genius Nikola Tesla.

Futuristic Weaponised Weather Control

HAARP-based technology, as officially explained, is employed to transmit massive energy into the ionosphere for improved communication, weather control, and defensive military objectives.

Many, however, suggest that it can also be abused as a weapon of mass destruction capable of instantly striking anywhere to create a wide range of devastations including earthquakes. Some allegations are: (i) Physicist Bernard Eastlund claimed that HAARP includes his US Patent technology capable of  modifying the weather and neutralising satellites; (ii) Russians worry that ionospheric testing would "trigger a cascade of electrons that could flip the Earth's magnetic poles"; (iii) European Parliament discussed the "environmental concerns"; (iv) the titles of books such as ‘Angels Don't Play This Haarp: Advances in Tesla Technology’ by Nick Begich & Jeane Manning-1995, ‘Earth Rising II: The Betrayal of Science, Society and the Soul’ by Nick Begich & James Roderick-2003, ‘Chemtrails, HAARP, and the Full Spectrum Dominance of Planet Earth’ by Elana Freeland-2014, and others speak for themselves; (v) governments owning HAARP-based technologies keep the entire issue classified ‘top secret’ inaccessible to public.

Eastlund patent

The 1987 US patent in favour of Dr. Eastlund is titled "Method and apparatus for altering a region in the earth's atmosphere, ionosphere, and/or magnetosphere". It set the stage for HAARP. Selected statements in the patent applications include: (i) the ionosphere temperature was raised by hundreds of degrees in his experiments, (ii) the invention provides a means and method to cause interference with or even total disruption of communications over a very large portion of the earth with significant civilian and military implications, (iii) this invention could be employed to disrupt not only land based communications, but also airborne communications and sea communications, and (iv) an exceedingly large amounts of power can be very efficiently produced and transmitted.

Weather modification is possible by altering upper atmosphere wind patterns or altering solar absorption patterns by constructing one or more plumes of atmospheric particles which will act as a lens or focusing device. The concentrations of ozone, nitrogen, etc. in the atmosphere could be artificially increased; it has the potentiality to decrease or disrupt at appropriate altitudes to modify or eliminate the earth's magnetic field. Moreover, "With the use of powerful computers, segments of human emotions which include anger, anxiety, sadness, fear, embarrassment, jealousy, resentment, shame, and terror, have been identified and isolated within the EEG signals as 'emotion signature clusters.' They are then placed on the Silent Sound carrier frequencies and could silently trigger the occurrence of the same basic emotion in another human being."

Layers of atmosphere

Planet earth is enveloped by five major layers of the atmosphere that extend from earth’s surface upwards to roughly defined heights. These are (i) Exosphere (700-10,000 km), (ii) Thermosphere (80-700 km), (iii) Mesosphere (50-80 km), (iv) Stratosphere (12-50 km) and (v) Troposphere (0-12 km). Several secondary layers with other properties exist within these five principal layers.

Magnetosphere is contained in the exosphere. The ionosphere is a region of the atmosphere that is ionized by solar radiation, primarily to ultraviolet radiation and extends between parts of the mesosphere and exosphere. The ionosphere includes the Thermosphere and it plays an important role in atmospheric electromagnetic charge formation at the inner edge of the magnetosphere. Ionosphere influences radio propagation to the farthest locations on the earth.

The ozone layer is a part of the stratosphere and is responsible for auroras. An aurora, also Northern Light, and Polar Light, is a natural light display in the sky more commonly seen in Arctic and Antarctic regions. The resulting ionization and excitation of atmospheric constituents by solar flares emits light of varying colour and complexity. Proton auroras are usually observed at lower latitudes. Aurora Borealis, the Northern Light, and Aurora Australis sometimes occur in the lower part of the exosphere where they overlap into the thermosphere.

HAARP locations

HAARP stations and HAARP-based technology centres exist in USA, Alaska, Area 51 located at Nevada in western USA, Peru, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Long Island, UK, Norway, Russia, China, India, Japan, and Australia.

Hundreds of antennae at these stations together have the capacity to produce billions of watts of electromagnetic (em) radio waves or microwaves of very low frequency (vlf) or extremely low frequency (elf) which can travel in various shapes and colours to distances of hundreds of kilometers around the world – upward into the atmosphere, or deep into the ocean and into the core of the earth. These waves are capable of connecting radio towers, antennae, transmitters and receivers in a grid all around the world. 

These facilities are powered by nuclear energy. It consists basically of an array of high powered antennae that blast focused beams of radio waves into the upper atmosphere into the ionosphere. It works by heating the ionosphere that shields the earth against the bombardment of high-energy particles from outer space. The energy generated on ground is combined into a directed beam that heats and lifts the exact targetted patches of the ionosphere. The beam can make invisible ionospheric mirrors which create a channel for energy transfer over great distances to targets on earth.

HAARP is believed to be a secret electromagnetic weapon that sends strong radio waves to cause weather modification, earthquake, and tsunami. Directed EM waves disrupt global communication system; induce engineered viruses, control mind of humans and much more. Other Objectives involve Mind Control through metals like Barium, Weather control through inducing draughts, using HAARP frequencies to cause extreme weather conditions and spreading diseases, spraying with spliced red blood cells, mycoplasma and fungi.

Electromagnetic pulse bomb

A Scalar Weapon is a massive electromagnetic pulse bomb. It generates EM pulses releasing a massive blast that would destroy all electronic gadgets in the area. This system leaves the epicenter and weapon unharmed and undetected. This terrifying scalar beam technology secretly owned by many nation-states can destroy activities on the whole planet.

Commercialisation of cloud nucleation &precision lightning

Cloud seeding companies are growing in number around the world to create and sell the technologies and services for artificial rainfall. Rain making may be put to good use or for weather warfare depending upon the intentions of technology owners.

Precision lightning strike with synthetic lightning is also possible. The 2005 book, ‘Weapons Grade: How Modern Warfare Gave Birth to Our High-Tech World’, noted that artificial lightning had been accomplished using lasers with a range of about 200 meters, but could possibly be extended to about 3 km. Other warfare technologies including that based on HAARP are on sale. There is a risk of the weather weapons falling in the hands of violent extremists is a real danger.

What next?

Human control over weather and climate is welcome. However, such control is fraught with the real danger of weather technologies being used as weapons of wars, conflicts and domination. Controlling rain, fog and cloud may help but its abuse may cause floods and droughts. Chemtrails, when abused, may shower misery on settlements. HAARP-based technology, operating from the outermost atmosphere, could be a weapon of mass destruction with the victims not knowing the source of the curse; most civilisations would believe these devastations as the act of god. This group of technologies in conjunction with chemtrails and scalar weapon technology is by far the most dreadful. World War III, god forbid, will be fought with Weaponised Weather technologies such as electromagnetic pulse bombs and psychotronic weapons; not by nuclear or hydrogen bombs. The scenario is scary but inventive counter technologies are being created. “The age of climate warfare is here. The military-industrial complex is ready”.

The question is: Are we ready?

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World Water Day 2014

World Water Day 2014: Holistic actions needed

SKT Nasar‏

The UN World Water Day 2014 with the theme ‘Water and Energy’ has been celebrated on 22 March 2014 as a part of International Decade for Action ‘Water for life 2005-2015’. Nations have been talking for long but many of the countries sulk when it comes to fair action. Only piecemeal programmes for patchwork are not enough. The challenges are extraordinary that require holistic actions now.

Cyclic existence of everything is an established principle valid for all aspects from God Particle to Multiverse. These cycles overlap and are intricately interlaced.  Damage or snapping off of the natural chains of cycles causes severe distortions, even disasters. Until functional cycles are invented de novo, the only option left to humanity is to repair the damages to re-establish the snapped chains. So is it with liquid water on madre terra.

Life on earth cannot exist without water. The universal right to life indeed includes the right to liquid water. It is a massive task to provide physically, chemically and biologically clean water to quench the thirst of over seven billion peoples as of now; and demands are growing exponentially. Industries and urbanised landscapes require billions of gallons of clean water per day to ultimately gush out contaminated effluents. Intensive and extensive agriculture, in addition, require enormous amounts of clean water for irrigation. Erratic rainfalls or over-irrigation causes flash flooding that drains out top soil contaminating already silted water bodies. Agrochemicals of modern agriculture are washed out causing environmental pollution. Mammoth drawls of ground water for irrigation and other purposes disseminate polluting compounds such as arsenic otherwise sequestered in deep aquifers. These waters, thrown centrifugally off course their natural cycles, are not reinstated to natural states. This phenomenon sets off water-related disasters.

Distribution of water for all needs from source to destination involves high energy costs. Cleaning of water for consumption by humans, agriculture, livestock, and industry involves additional costs in terms of energy. Unfortunately, the stakeholders, both producers and consumers, of these processes are apathetic to recycling the abused water.

Water is used to produce hydroelectric energy. Large dams for harnessing hydro-power have shown potential for catastrophe of varied intensity. The hydro-energy is used for providing water to all and also for decontamination of water. Fossil, nuclear and renewable energy is consumed in addition to hydroelectricity to meet escalating demands. Nuclear energy has shown the capacity for tragedies. Each nation state should, by intention, laws, programmes and strict execution, make it compulsory for each stakeholder to conserve water, reduce its consumption, and to restore used water to its natural state at well-researched low energy costs. All industries, including bottled water and cold-drink industries should be made to comply.

The principle of ‘Polluter Must Pay’ needs to be modified to ‘Polluters Must Restore and Compensate Damage’. Moist agriculture rather than flooding- or wet-agriculture should become the order of the day. Polluting industry and agriculture must be discouraged. A palpable shift to using renewable forms of energy which is costlier in the present-day economy needs to be made compulsory.

Water and energy have become inseparable. While World Water Day is more or less of an annual ritual, the real challenge is to make each day, 24x7, the water-&-energy day a habit for every inhabitant of planet earth. Global zero-tolerance common-goal policy and action programmes should be: ‘Sustain water; Slash energy’.

S.K.T. Nasar

Former Director (Research)

Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya

(= BC Agricultural University)

West Bengal, INDIA

E-mail: sktnasar (at) hotmail.com

Crop Plant Agriculture vis-ã-vis Environment

Crop Plant Agriculture vis-ã-vis Environment

S.K.T. Nasar

The is a magazine article to create awareness about environment; hence, details of technical aspects are avoided.

Published in Jeebaner Paribesh - Environment of Life; 2nd Year, 9th Issue, 15 April 2014, pp 15-19

Agriculture Sustains Life and Livelihood of Billions

Many perceive Agriculture as too muddy for respectability which, in fact, it is not. Agriculture includes all operations from sowing seeds to harvesting and making agricultural products available for use as food, feed, aesthetics and industrial raw materials. Agriculture encompasses almost all spheres of human life.

The enormity of agriculture as a sub-system of biology, society, economy and environment emanates from data that more than seven billion people globally, 1.27 billion in India, are eating food and using agricultural products. Demand for contaminant-free food-cum-nutrition is rising as never before. Requirements for agricultural products for services and as industrial raw materials are growing exponentially.

Agricultural production is prone to environmental conditions. Spells of drought or flash floods cause devastations that make the landless farmers to the members of the United Nations Organisation to sit up in alarm. Earth quakes, Tsunamis and typhoons spell disasters not only for local communities but trigger international ripples in prices and in transborder businesses.

Agriculture contributes to making or marring the environment. Agriculture and environment maintain a two-way traffic.

Sunlight Energy and Agriculture

The fundamental tenet of capturing and utilising sunlight energy through agriculture has not changed over millennia. Nor is it likely to alter in the foreseeable future. Agriculture in India as elsewhere has modified from subsistence- to surplus- to commercial agriculture giving way to internationalisation of farming systems. This sunlight energy captured by all green cells including those of crop plants passes through food webs on to other organisms that lack the mechanism of capturing sunlight energy. Solar energy ultimately reaches the human species from different sources from crop products to edible animals - their meat, milk and egg.

Agro-ecosystems like natural ecosystems recycle all substances created by life processes and from dead organisms.  The process is bio-geo-chemical recycling. Breakdown of the recycling processes has far reaching consequences for the environment.

Glocal (i.e. global plus local) Concerns

No wonder then that Agriculture is glocal business and trade at global to local levels. Policy concerning self-sufficiency in agriculture and its sustainability besides equitable accessibility to food, and profit-making to satisfy human needs and, of course, greed are bothering all stake holders. Agricultural operations transcend national, environmental, geographical and generational boundaries.

Location specificity and seasonality of agricultural commodities are determined by the environment. Sustainable agriculture needs to adjust to climate change and unprecedented environmental fluctuations. That is a formidable challenge.

Massive intensive and extensive agricultural operations to assure the escalating needs of exponentially growing human population indeed modify the environment in diverse ways.

Agriculture and environment are inseparable components affecting each other.

Facets of agriculture

Agriculture has been defined as ‘the systematic and controlled use of living organisms and the environment’. It includes cultivation of terrestrial and aquatic plants, animals and fish. Major operational schemes of agriculture are related to where, when and how of cultivation methods, choice of the right varieties and essential practices to be followed. Inputs like seeds, implements, irrigation water, energy in the form of fuel and electricity, fertilisers and devices for pest protection have to be made available to grower-farmers.  These are non-farm operations. Non-farm agricultural activities have a direct bearing on the environment and vice versa.

On-Farm Plant Crop Production in Relation to Environment

A quick look at the production technology and package of practice for plant crops highlights the two-way relationship between agriculture and environment.

Vital agricultural operations of plant crop are land preparation, sowing of desired seeds, providing irrigation water, adding fertilisers, taking pest control measures, and finally harvesting products. Timeliness of each operation is crucial. 

Manoeuvres are different for the production of human food and livestock feed, plantation crop, flower, fibre, wood-fuel, biofuel, medicines, and industrial raw material. Molecular farming for specific molecules is in high demand. Agriculture uses, in addition to plant species, organisms such as microbes, animals, fish, insects with similar goals of production and services. Agricultural procedures may combine the benefits of different organisms for specific production targets. These operations depend on local climatic conditions and on the environment at large.

Photosynthesis is fundamental to all life and the essence of agriculture

Agricultural production is dependent entirely on photosynthesis, the natural phenomenon in which living green cells capture energy from sunlight and convert it to chemical energy. Leaves of crop plants appear green due to the presence chlorophyll contained in special compartments within cells, the chloroplasts. Crop plant agriculture is the only managed system that brings in energy from extraterrestrial source, the Sun.

During photosynthesis, sunlight energy, the photon, is first captured by the chloroplast/chlorophyll which then, through a series of complex biochemical processes, combines carbon dioxide (CO₂) and water (H₂O) to produce carbohydrate such as sugars and starch which are ultimately converted into protein, fat etc. However, all organisms must respire to sustain life. The biochemical process of respiration breaks down photosynthetic products but then, in balance, the accumulation of biomass i.e. biological mass is the outcome. Photosynthetic products during the prehistoric past formed fossil fuel that are presently contributing to the production of food, feed and other products that humans utilise.

The photosynthetic CO₂ comes from the atmosphere while H₂O, nutrients and minerals are mined from the soil by plant roots.

Agriculture contributes greatly to reducing CO₂ load of the atmosphere and to raising O₂ levels thus assisting the maintenance of environmental equilibrium.

Ecosystem and agro-ecosystem

Different kinds of organisms co-exist in nature. Living organisms form the biological or biotic factor of an ecological system called ecosystem. Air, water, soil, weather, and non-living matter together make the non-biological or abiotic component of an ecosystem. Agro-ecosystem is a managed ecosystem as opposed to unmanaged natural ecosystem such as a forest ecosystem.

Human societies began shifting from hunting edible animals or fish and gathering edible forest products such as cereals, fruits and fuel wood to domesticating animals and sowing seeds of plants for food and services more than twelve thousand years ago. This process gradually gave rise to organised agriculture and by about eleven thousand or more years ago societies were established as food producers.

Natural forest lands had to be cleared irreversibly for organised agriculture, human settlements, plantations, pastures for livestock, mining etc. It was from this time on that naturally occurring landscape continued to be converted into managed farm lands. This phenomenon impacted glocal environment. Yet, agricultural fields continue to be significantly influenced by the environment at local levels depending upon climate and topography. While climate determines the energy from sunlight and CO₂, the supply of water is determined by local geography, rainfall pattern and soil type. 

Ploughing of Farmland

Agricultural practices include tillage by ploughing to primarily loosen up the soil for aeration and smothering of weeds to achieve good germination of crop seeds, easy penetration of roots and desired plant growth. For the cultivation of wet or lowland rice (Oryza sativa), the ploughed land is puddled to retain water in the crop field. On the other hand, water must not be retained in the field for upland or dry cultivation of wheat (Triticum vulgare) for example.

Soil operations are confined mostly to the uppermost layer. The top soil is the most fertile soil rich in micro-organisms, nematodes and mites, earthworms, organic matter and crop nutrients. The top soil shows high biological activity.

The soil contains large quantities of essential nutrients for crop plants.  Living soil organisms convert crop nutrients to forms in which these are utilised by the plants. Soil moisture supplies water to the crop.

Ploughed soil is removed from cultivated fields with the outflow of excess water or is blown away from dry and dusty crop land with high velocity wind. Erosion moves soil into water bodies adding enormous amount of sediments. Sedimentation over decades causes choking of dams and irrigation canals. Soil erosion depletes fertility in farmland. Soil organisms including seeds of noxious weed are spread out to large areas. Ecosystem equilibrium is thus disturbed every cropping season. Emission of Green House Gas (GHG) is another international concern to which wetlands and wet agriculture is a contributor.

Quenching Crop Thirst – A Necessary Evil?

Crop plants need water at different stages of growth. Irrigation is resorted to where rain is scanty or when rain water is unavailable as required.

Irrigation water is sourced from open water bodies, for instance rivers, streams, lakes and ponds, or from groundwater aquifers by tube wells. Excessive withdrawal of ground water for irrigation besides for municipal and industrial supplies causes subsidence of the groundwater table.

Intensification of agriculture has caused depletion of groundwater leaving the soil dry with crusts of unwanted salts. Desertification or salinisation of once fertile arable land is not very uncommon in some areas. Desertification, salinisation, alkalisation and acidification of soils impact the environment in several ways.  

Many aquifers contain iron, arsenic and selenium. Groundwater contaminants are spread by irrigation and absorbed by farmland, water bodies and crops. Agricultural products are contaminated to unacceptable levels. The case of arsenic contamination is well known.  Chemical contaminants reach humans and livestock via the ecosystem food web. Health hazards and diminished saleability of commodities are rampant in vast geographical areas.

Periurban farm fields are largely sewage-irrigated with urban effluents overloaded with chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), lead (Pb), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), and antibiotic-resistant bacteria and fungi.

These toxic chemicals and disease-causing biological entities infused into agricultural products adversely affect the well being of consumers.

Dams and labyrinthine canals have been constructed to provide irrigation to crop plants at huge public costs. The total area of agricultural land in India is about 8.32 million hectares out of which about 2.67904 million hectares are under irrigation. Dams are evidenced to create environmental and social problems. Silting of canals and choking of dams lead not only to huge costs for restoration but cause floods and disasters on large scales.

Channelling of river water for agriculture and industries is already creating inter-state and inter-nation conflicts. Water war is likely to follow Oil war at international levels.

Protecting crop plants from pests

Crop plants are vulnerable to pest attacks. Destructive pests may include species and strains of virus, bacterium, fungus, nematode, mite and insect either singly or in combination.  Rodents and birds also destroy standing crops. Large quantities of pesticides are employed to ward off or kill pests to save pre- and post-harvest losses in production.

Weeds are another group of common agricultural pests. Herbicides and weedicides are applied to control infestation of weed plants that compete with crop plants for water, nutrient and also harbour other pests.

All pesticides are toxic to life forms. These chemicals not only kill unwanted target pests but also non-target crop-friendly organisms such as pollinators (honey bees, butterflies), root zone-dwelling bacteria and fungi.

Many pesticides are retained in agricultural products consumed by humans and livestock. There is a build up of pesticides in the agricultural soil carried to water bodies through run off movements. Over time, pesticides also leach into aquifers. Finally, pesticides are consumed by people. We pay to eat poison!

Feeding the Food Producing Crop Plants!

Fertilisation is the timely supply of nutrition to hungry crop plants to produce food. Some chemical elements vital to crop survival and growth are the main ingredients in fertilisers. Atmospheric air supplies hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), and carbon (C) as non-mineral nutrients. Mineral nutrients comprising macronutrients and micronutrients come from the soil and are absorbed through roots. Among these, nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) are primary nutrients, whereas calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), silicon (Si) and sulphur (S) are secondary macronutrients. In addition, boron (B), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), chlorine (Cl), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo) and zinc (Zn) are micronutrients needed only in small quantities.

For crops under nature farming or organic farming, the nutrition is made available by the soil through recycling of organic matter or by converting soil nutrients into forms suited for uptake by plants.

Modern intensive and extensive farming entails the use of factory manufactured fertilisers. If not applied appropriately, excess N and P can have negative environmental consequences. Surplus N from synthetic fertilisers as highly soluble nitrate can lead to groundwater nitrate contamination. Nitrate with P contaminates areas causing eutrophication i.e. over dominance of a single species turning the area ultimately into dead zones.

The major inputs of heavy metals such as lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), selenium (Se) and mercury (Hg) into agricultural systems also derive from fertilisers, organic wastes and industrial effluents. These accumulate in downstream reservoirs contaminating water creating a toxic web.

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in Agriculture and Environment

GMOs in Indian agriculture are fiercely debated. Scientists and public are arguing. The Parliament is considering the issue. The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) and Karnataka Biodiversity Board (KBB) have ordered prosecution under Biodiversity Act 2002 of senior representatives of the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwar, M/s Mahyco/Monsanto and M/s Sathguru.  The High Court of Karnataka dismissed on 11th October 2013 petitions that sought quashing of criminal prosecution. Higher courts are weighing options. The hullabaloo is all about Bt brinjal.

The Genetic Engineering Appraisal (formerly Approval) Committee (GEAC), created under the Environment Protection Act 1986 in the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, is eager to order release of Bt brinjal for large scale cultivation. Curiously, Bangladesh has allowed commercial cultivation of Bt brinjal giving a talking point to proponents of Bt brinjal in India.

Bt brinjal is a brinjal (Solanum melongena; baigan, begun) variety created by inserting a gene which is an engineered stretch of DNA segments from bacteria and virus. The crystal protein gene, Cry1Ac, is extracted from a soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis and inserted into the genome, the complete genetic makeup of cultivated brinjal varieties. The process is known as transgenesis. The transgenic brinjal plants show resistance against specific insect pests, namely Brinjal Fruit and Shoot Borer, Leucinodes orbonalis, and Fruit Borer, Helicoverpa armigera. 

Bt cotton, the first non-edible transgenic crop, is being cultivated in India for some years with the claim that Bt reduces heavy pesticide use. However, long term results need to be scrutinised.

Insect resistant crop varieties have been created through conventional plant breeding techniques for over a century. In most cases the resistance breaks down chiefly due to the fact that the species of insect pests alter their genetic makeup over time. Preliminary data indicate that insects mutate to breakdown resistance of GM crops.

GM crops such as herbicide resistant Canola, a Canadian oilseed crop, result in genetic contamination of native plant species through unintended natural hybridisation. Feral communities of canola have been reported recently. Feral species are the species cropped in agricultural fields but escape to establish in natural ecosystems.

Non-target insects such as pollinators and natural enemies of other pests are also killed by Bt-toxin produced by GM crops.  The Bt gene composed of DNA is also known to move to other native organisms. These processes are likely to lead to genetic contaminations of cropped and wild plant species with far reaching consequences.

Future is Tricky but not Bleak, Provided........

The future of agriculture will come with unprecedented challenges. Sustainability with higher production in consonance with the environment can be achieved, provided we act diligently no later than now. Agriculture must conserve ecological balance and retain natural resources sustainable and provide biologically and chemically clean food-cum-nutrition, feed and other products. Technology supported by science is available to minimise contamination in, and by agriculture.

Climate change has emerged as a formidable challenge. Weaponising the weather is likely to aggravate problems for future agriculture. Water wars along with energy wars have begun to be felt across the globe.  National policy to combat such challenges must be in place before it is too late.

Agriculture is a multi-level multi-factorial system that requires new approaches for data gathering and statistical analyses and for multi-level multipronged actions. The debates on chemical agriculture versus organic and restorative agriculture must end and well thought out actions must begin. Development of new generation pest control mechanisms including biotechnology approaches already in use should be strengthened, augmented and advanced. Application of nanotechnology to agriculture is immediately called for to meet the requirements of future agriculture.

Advancements in new biology are required to be used in agriculture. Recent knowledge on panspermia, extracellular DNA, 4-stranded DNA, genomics, proteomics and biotechnology must be applied on a much bigger scale to face challenges ahead. Public funded and freely accessible GM crops that pass bias-free and scientific risk assessments are needed now as also for future agriculture. Nanotechnology applied to agriculture has begun to show promising results. New methods of agriculture should sustain environment and natural resources.

Situation specific agricultural mechanisation based on zero/renewable energy technology is another essential for a successful agricultural future. GMOs are a gift to agriculture but it has to be applied with utmost caution with special reference to monopolisation of technology, environmental costs and ecosystem disturbances besides genetic health of both target and non-target organisms. Rural and urban water harvesting systems need to be enlarged.

Agriculture cannot afford to go in conflict with the environment. Only environment friendly agriculture will save humanity.

Extraction of Genomic DNA from Lantana camara Leaf: Simple Protocol for Freshers in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology

This research note has been accepted for publication by Harmony Newsletter published online from Patna, Bihar, INDIA

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Extraction of Genomic DNA from Lantana camara Leaf: Simple Protocol for Freshers in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology

Sourav Datta¹, Suman Roy², Sourav Kumar Das³, Palash Mukherjee⁴ and SKT Nasar*

Department of Biotechnology, Bengal College of Engineering and Technology

(Affiliated to West Bengal University of Technology), Durgapur-713212, West Bengal

Abstract

We present here an ultrasimple, effective and inexpensive procedure to extract genomic DNA from plants and other organisms with special focus on a common weed Lantana camara L. This report also presents a brief discussion on some selected downstream applications of genomic DNA extracted by this protocol. 

Introduction

Genomic DNA comprising nuclear, mitochondrial and chloroplast DNA is basic to molecular biology and biotechnology and application of genetic technologies. Extraction of DNA from organisms is the first step for the application of molecular biology. Shirazu et al. (2009), Nasar and Nasar (2009, 2010) and others demonstrated that extraction of DNA from different organisms is easy, inexpensive and fun.

Lantana camara (L.) is a common invasive weed plant showing wide diversity. Lantana biodiversity has been used to produce commercially available ornamental varieties for hedges and gardens. We have selected Lantana camara for the present work for two main reasons: Durgapur shows wide variability and DNA extraction is rendered difficult due to high content of pentacyclic terpenoids and volatile oil in leaves.

We show here that gDNA extraction from Lantana leaf is effectively as easy as for other plant species. We also show that its applicability in selected downstream procedures is feasible.

Materials and Methods

Planting selected materials in pots

Selected disease-free plants of Lantana camera L. were maintained live in earthen pots at the departmental garden. Healthy fresh leaves were collected for DNA extraction experiments.

Extraction of genomic DNA

The procedure standardised by Nasar & Nasar (2010) and Nasar, Mukherjee & Trivedi (2010, unpublished; personal comm.) has been used here. This protocol requires household items such as refrigerator, mortar-pestle, table salt, dish washing liquid soap and alcohol.

The method of gDNA extraction from leaf of Lantana camera L. constituted the following steps:

(i) All items – leaves, glassware, and chemicals – were pre-cooled in the freezing chamber of a refrigerator and all steps were carried out on a bed of ice cubes or in ice box; (ii) Only   healthy and young leaves were collected and washed with clean water (Fig 1 A); (iii) leaves were cut into small pieces and surface dirt of the material removed by washing  repeatedly with distilled or drinkable water (Fig 1 B); (iv) A tablespoonful of clean water, a pinch each of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and Tata® salt (NaCl) were added to the material and it was pulverised with mortar-pestle to make a paste of tissue; (v) The paste was filtered through fibre-free cloth and the filtrate was collected in a test tube or small glass container; the residue was discarded; (vi) 2-4 drops of Vim® liquid dish washing soap were carefully added to the suspension of pulverised tissue; very gentle stirring with a pre-cooled glass rod avoided lathering; (vii) Finally, pre-cooled ethanol was poured slowly along the wall of test tube/container without disturbing the tissue suspension; (viii) The test tube was kept in the refrigerator at 14-15^O C for 20-30 minutes and progress was watched intermittently; (ix) Bubbles began rising through alcohol layer raising DNA threads that aggregated as a white cloud floating in the ethanol layer (Fig 1 C & D); (x) DNA, at his stage, was carefully sucked out with a long-nozzle glass dropper and was then expelled from the dropper in pre-cooled 70% ethanol in a glass container for storing in a refrigerator (Fig 1 E).

Fig. 1. Steps of gDNA extraction from leaves of Lantana camara L. from preparing the material to DNA isolation to storing

Sufficient amounts of DNA were collected in about 30 minutes as can be seen in Fig. 1 D and E.

Confirmation of the extracted substance being DNA

Several protocols exist for confirmation of the extracted substance being DNA. We used ethidium bromide [EtBr] in a simple experiment. The extracted DNA stored in 70% ethanol was poured on a clean watch glass (#1) and kept in a refrigerator for four-five days till the alcohol evaporated. Air-dried extracted DNA clung to glass surface at the centre. A drop of EtBr was placed over the substance. Another drop of EtBr was placed on a clean watch glass (#2) to act as experimental control. Watch glasses #1 and #2 were exposed to UV light in a transilluminator. The fluorescence patterns were photographed [Fig. 2 (a)]. A teaspoonful of water each was added to another set of #1 and #2 and similarly fluoresced [Fig. 2 (b)].

Fig. 2. Ethidium bromide (EtBr) fluorescence and EtBr-stained air-dried DNA and DNA dissolved in water

It was observed that EtBr alone fluoresced with lesser intensity than in conjunction with the extracted substance [Fig. 2(a) #2 and (b) #2]. EtBr is known to intercalate with dsDNA and produce intense fluorescence. On the other hand, ssDNA, RNA and stretches of dsRNA fluoresce with much lower intensity.  This mini-experiment confirmed that the extracted substance is indeed DNA.

Confirmation of gDNA

Leaf cell contains nuclear, chloroplast and mitochondrial DNA. It was important to verify if the extracted DNA was a mixture of nuclear and organellar DNA since downstream applications would depend upon this information.  To this end, the extracted DNA was subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis in the laboratory.

Agarose gel electrophoresis for analysis of gDNA

The basic information utilised for this section was based on Ogden and Adams (1987) and Brody and Kern (2004). The extracted DNA was placed in pre-cooled water in eppedorf tube and rinsed by centrifugation several times before use. Washing with water would remove salt, ethanol and lighter segments of sheared DNA, 

The extracted DNA samples were electrophoresed in 1% agarose gel with EtBr at 75 v and, 60 mA for 1 hr.  The EtBr-DNA fluorescent bands under transilluminator were captured in digital pictures.

Fig. 3. DNA bands of Lantana camara (L.) after agarose gel electrophoresis. Heavy band likely nuclear DNA, Light band likely chloroplast band and Lightest band likely mitochondrial DNA

The electrophoresis yielded three distinct bands. A comparison of the results (Fig. 3) with other results showed that Lantana leaf DNA bands were similar to those of DNA extracted from different plant species. The heaviest band represents nuclear DNA (nDNA), the light band is chloroplast DNA (ctDNA) and the lightest band comprises mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA).

The result shows that extraction of DNA from Lantana camara (L.) leaf is easy, quick and inexpensive. It also confirms that the extracted ‘white cloud’ in ethanol is indeed DNA as further confirmed by the electrophoresis result.

Discussion

Experiments conducted at Department of Biotechnology, Bengal College of Engineering and Technology, Durgapur, confirmed that the ultrasimple procedure of gDNA  extraction from Aloe vera leaf (Mala 2010), Oryza sativa leaf (Ganguly 2010; Tewari 2011), giant tiger prawn (Penaeus monodon Fab.) muscle tissue (Nasar and Trivedi, pers. comm.),  goat liver and Lactobacillus (Nasar and Mukherjee, pers. comm.) are uniformly effective.

Four basic steps are essential for all DNA extraction protocols: (a) breaking cell membranes by grinding to expose cellular contents and DNA, (b) getting rid of intracellular boundaries by disrupting lipo-protein membranes by a detergent containing sodium dodecyl sulphate, (c) removing proteins by protease such as papaya juice and (d) precipitating DNA with alcohol, preferably ethanol. The experiment must be conducted in cool conditions to decrease endonuclease activity. Procedures must be carried out gently to avoid shearing of DNA.

An inexpensive gDNA extraction protocol (Shirazu et al. 2009; Nasar & Nasar 2010) that consumes less time without compromising with quality has been considered handy for this work. This report has shown that the ultrasimple protocol of gDNA extraction is inexpensive, quick and effective as compared with standard procedures such as the hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) method (Ausubel et al. 1994, Tewari 2011) are elaborate, costly and time consuming. This report corroborates our other experiments. The total time duration for the experiment from harvesting plant tissues to harvesting gDNA has been found to be typically less than an hour.

Extraction of DNA from plant tissue varies with experimental materials. Required modifications adopted for DNA extraction from Lantana camara without changing the fundamentals of different steps yields sufficient amounts of gDNA amenable to downstream analysis.

Addition of table salt in lieu of lab-grade NaCl is important. The negative charge of one of the oxygen atoms linked to the phosphorous provides high polarity to DNA that dissolves in water at neutral pH.  The negative charge of phosphodiester group of DNA is neutralised on addition of salt. DNA then becomes much less soluble in water. Iodised Tata® table salt contains enough NaCl for the purpose of the protocol under report. Table salt worked well in all our experiments.

Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) provided better results when used in our experiments. EDTA is a chelating agent for metal ions such as Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺ and Fe³⁺. Nucleases need divalent cations such as Mg²⁺ which when depleted deactivates the enzymes.

Experiments reported here used Vim® dishwashing liquid soap containing sodium dodecyl/lauryl sulphate (SDS/SLS). SDS in the soap is a strong anionic detergent that solubilises and breaks lipo-protein membranes and nuclear envelope. In addition to breaking down membranes, SDS emulsifies lipid bi-layer structure of cell and nuclear membranes. SDS also helps the release of chromosomal DNA from histones and other DNA binding proteins by denaturing them.

After careful examination of DNA precipitation in isopropyl alcohol, denatured alcohol or ethanol in pilot experiments, cold ethanol was found to yield the best results.  Addition of alcohol and salt causes DNA to precipitate while other soluble cell components remain in solution in the aqueous phase. Alcohol also removes alcohol-soluble-salt (see Kurabo PI-80X 2010; CTAB, CIMMYT 2005).

Experiments in our laboratory revealed three bands of DNA extracted from leaf of Rice (Oryza sativa L. cv. MTU 7029 ‘Swarna’; Ganguly 2010 and Tewari 2011), Aloe vera L.  (Mala 2010) and Lantana camara L. (present report) as can be seen in the collage presented at Fig. 4.

Ganguly (2010), in another experiment on the DNA of fresh and senesced leaf and fresh root of rice (Oryza sativa L. cv. MTU 7029) successfully showed that the three bands as seen in Fig. 4 represent nuclear DNA (nDNA; heavy band), chloroplast DNA (ctDNA; light band) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA; lightest band). The parallel illustrated in Fig. 4 confirms that the ultrasimple simple protocol is undeniably effective for gDNA extraction from Lantana leaf.

The gDNA extracted by the ultrasimple procedure is fit for downstream application. Tewari (2011) subjected gDNA extracted by standard (CTAB) and ultrasimple protocols to digestion with two restriction enzymes i.e. Hind 111 and EcoR1 for RFLP studies on rice (Oryza sativa L. cv. MTU 7029). He observed that gDNA extracted by these procedures yielded the same results.  Similarly, our PCR studies on gDNA extracted by standard and ultrasimple protocols from giant tiger prawn (Penaeus monodon Fab.) muscle tissue (Nasar and Trivedi, pers. comm.) showed equally acceptable result.

Fig. 4 (A, B, C & D) Collage of leaf DNA from (A & B) Oryza sativa L. (C) Lantana camara L. and (D) Aloe vera L. after agarose gel electrophoresis showing three bands each. (A & B) DNA bands of Oryza sativa L. cv. MTU 7029 leaf; (A) DNA extracted by the ultrasimple protocol as in the present report; (B) DNA extracted by standard (CTAB) protocol; (C) DNA bands of Lantana camara L.; Present work, DNA extracted by ultrasimple protocol under this report; (D) DNA bands of Aloe vera L.; DNA extracted by the ultrasimple protocol as in the present report;

(1% Agarose gel, 20µl EtBr; electrophoresis running time 3 hr 30 minutes at 50 volts)

Although gDNA extracted by ultrasimple protocol has an OD of 1.4-1.5 at 260nm/280nm UV absorbance (Tewari 2011), our conclusion that the ultrasimple protocol for extraction of gDNA good for downstream applications is inescapable. This is corroborated by Chum et al. (2012) who showed that DNA extracted directly from tissues can be used for PCR analysis.

A major criticism of teaching in molecular biology and biotechnology is that practicals are not conducted appropriately (Lakhotia 2008). Such inadequacies are due to the prohibitive costs of infrastructure coupled with fund crunch. Experiments in selected areas with innovative and cost cutting measures (Nasar 2009) can lessen the burden. The present work has been undertaken to address this issue.

The present work shows that, with a good understanding of fundamental principles of protocols, innovative experiments in molecular biology and biotechnology can be cost-effective and quick. Students can, for example, extract DNA at residences and bring samples to laboratory for further analysis.

Acknowledgement

Authors are indebted to Bengal College of Engineering and Biotechnology, Durgapur for providing facilities and to Mr. Prasenjit Tewari, Mrs. Kanchan Mala and Mr. Joydev Ganguly, all former students of SKTN, for allowing us to use data from their dissertations.

References

1.     Ausubel, F.M., Brent, R., Kingston, R.E., Moore, D.D., Seidman, J.G., Smith, J.A. and Struhl, K. 1994 Current Protocols in Molecular Biology. New York City, NY: John Wiley & Sons Inc.

2.     Brody, JR and Kern SE (2004) History and principles of conductive media for standard DNA electrophoresis. Anal Biochem. 333(1):1-13. Review.

3.     Chum, P. Y., Haimes, J. D., André, C. P., Kuusisto, P. K., Kelley, M. L. 2012 Genotyping of Plant and Animal Samples without Prior DNA Purification. J. Vis. Exp. (67), e3844, DOI: 10.3791/3844.

4.     Ganguly, Joydev 2010 Genomic DNA of Developing and Senescing Paddy (Oryza sativa L.) Plants: Evaluation with Innovative Agarose Gel Cast and Inexpensive Extraction Protocol; B. Tech. (Biotechnology) Dissertation, (Biotechnology Department, Bengal college of Engineering and Technology, Durgapur), West Bengal University of Technology, Kolkata.

5.     Lakhotia S. C. 2008 Are biotechnology degree courses relevant? Curr. Sci, 94 (10), 1244-1245.

6.     Mala, Kanchan 2010 Genomic DNA of Aloe vera L.: Pot Grown vis-à-vis Tissue Cultured Plants; M. Tech. (Biotechnology) Dissertation, (Biotechnology Department, Bengal college of Engineering and Technology, Durgapur), West Bengal University of Technology, Kolkata.

7.     Nasar S. K. T. 2009 Degree courses in biotechnology; Curr. Sci, 96 (3), 323.

8.     Nasar S.K.T. and Nasar S. Farzaan D. 2009 Genomic DNA Extraction is About the Playing; The Science Creative Quarterly. Available at http://www.scq.ubc.ca/genomic-dna-extraction-is-about-the-playing/; Accessed on 10 November 2012.

9.     Nasar S.K.T. and Nasar S. Farzaan D. 2010 Genomic DNA Extraction is Play http://futureagricultureindia.blogspot.com/2010/04/genomic-dna-extraction-is-play.html; Accessed on 30 April 2010.

10.  Ogden, R.C., and Adams, D.A., (1987) Electrophoresis in agarose and acrylamide gels. Meth. Enzymol. 152, 61-87.

11.  Shirazu Yas, Lee Donna and Abd-Elmessih Esther 2009 The MacGyver Project: genomic DNA extraction and gel electrophoresis experiments using everyday materials. The Science Creative Quarterly. Available at http://www.scq.ubc.ca/the-macgyver-project-genomic-dna-extraction-and-gel-electrophoresis-experiments-using-everyday-materials/; Accessed on 10 November 2012.

12.  Tewari, Prasenjit 2011 Genomic DNA of Rice Cultivar: Ultrasimple Extraction and RFLP; M. Tech. (Biotechnology) Dissertation, (Biotechnology Department, Bengal college of Engineering and Technology, Durgapur), West Bengal University of Technology, Kolkata.

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^{1, 2 & 3}Former B. Tech. (Biotechnology) students; ⁴Lab In-charge; ¹sourav.aka.peter@gmail.com, ²suman.biotech1411@gmail.com, ³srvhell@gmail.com, ⁴palash_muk@rediffmail.com,

*skt.nasar@gmail.com; Corresponding author, Former Honorary Professor (Biotechnology)

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