Alejandra Abril Guevara
Graduate Student, University of Florida
Expert Bio
Alejandra earned her undergraduate degree in Biology from the University of Los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia. During her research Alejandra participated in different biophysics labs as part of the Single Molecular Biophotonics Group in the University of Southern California. She has always been interested in agriculture and technology and she is currently a doctoral student in Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Florida. Her research efforts are focused on improving the biomass conversion properties of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor). More specifically, she studies enzymes involved in cell wall architecture that would enable engineering plant cell walls through breeding or genetic engineering, thus improving biofuel production and invention of value-added products from lignin polymers. She also investigates the genetic bases and the physiological effects of water submergence on crop plants to develop flooding-tolerant lines to improve crop production in flood-prone areas.
Studies, Articles and Answers
Showing 3 out of 3 results
Question
A: Genetically engineered (GE) crops have been used to generate renewable fuels. Ethanol has been traditionally produced from starch feedstock (e.g corn) and biodiesel from vegetable oil feedstocks (e.g. soybean). Currently, the ‘second generation biofuels’ are being produced from cellulosic biomass for ethanol and eukaryotic microalgae for biodiesel. There is a growing interest for generation of novel fuels from prokaryotic microalgae metabolism from fatty-acids (Reviewed by [1]). GE corn contains the anti-insect BT protein + the enzyme that confers glyphosate resistance, and these have be [...]
Environment OtherQuestion
A: The direct answer to your question is scientists do use the acronym "GMO" in general, and certainly not for organisms that humans have domesticated for food or medicines. The general public employs the term GMO when referring to genetically engineered organisms. The problem is that the term GMO is very unspecific. While it generally refers to transgenic plants, there are many ways to modify plant genetics, which gets confusing. This can be through biotechnology, traditional breeding, genetics, genetic engineering or simple selection. In fact, according to the Glossary of Agricultur [...]
A: The direct answer to your question is scientists do use the acronym "GMO" in general, and certainly not for organisms that humans have domesticated for food or medicines. The general public employs the term GMO when referring to genetically engineered organisms. The problem is that the term GMO is very unspecific. While it generally refers to transgenic plants, there are many ways to modify plant genetics, which gets confusing. This can be through biotechnology, traditional breeding, genetics, genetic engineering or simple selection. In fact, according to the Glossary of Agricultur [...]
Environment Health & SafetyQuestion
A: The direct answer to your question is scientists do use the acronym "GMO" in general, and certainly not for organisms that humans have domesticated for food or medicines. The general public employs the term GMO when referring to genetically engineered organisms. The problem is that the term GMO is very unspecific. While it generally refers to transgenic plants, there are many ways to modify plant genetics, which gets confusing. This can be through biotechnology, traditional breeding, genetics, genetic engineering or simple selection. In fact, according to the Glossary of Agricultur [...]
A: The direct answer to your question is scientists do use the acronym "GMO" in general, and certainly not for organisms that humans have domesticated for food or medicines. The general public employs the term GMO when referring to genetically engineered organisms. The problem is that the term GMO is very unspecific. While it generally refers to transgenic plants, there are many ways to modify plant genetics, which gets confusing. This can be through biotechnology, traditional breeding, genetics, genetic engineering or simple selection. In fact, according to the Glossary of Agricultur [...]
Environment Health & Safety