| Biotechnology |
The application of science and engineering in the direct or indirect use of living organisms, or parts or products of living organisms, in their natural or modified forms. |
| Canola |
Canola is the combination of two words -- Canadian and oil. Canola oil is produced by crushing seeds from Canada's major oilseed crop - canola. Canadian plant breeders developed canola from rapeseed. |
| DNA |
This is the short form for deoxyribonucleic acid, which contains the information that determines the structure of proteins. |
| Gene |
A segment of DNA carrying the genetic instructions to make one protein. |
| Genetic engineering |
The process of identifying and isolating DNA from a living or dead cell and introducing it into another living cell. |
| GM |
A series of techniques used to transfer the genes from one organism to another, or to alter the expression of an organism's genes. |
| Hectares |
A metric unit of measurement of area. One hectare is 10,000 square meters, or 2.471 acres. |
Herbicide tolerant
or resistant |
Tolerance refers to the ability of the plant to withstand the herbicide with minimal effects.
Resistance refers to the ability of the plant to suffer no effect from the application of the herbicide. |
| Herbicides |
An agent (chemical or natural) used to destroy weeds. |
| IPM |
Integrated Pest Management involves developing a basic understanding of the pest's biology in order to select the best set of pest management methods. Considerations include economic, environmental and sociological costs and benefits. |
No till/
minimum till |
Crop production philosophy that minimizes the amount of soil cultivation. |
| Novel trait |
A new trait that has never been used before, or is introduced by a new process. |
| Outcrossing |
The potential for genes to move from a genetically engineered plant to a wild relative. |
| Pesticides |
An agent (chemical or natural) used to destroy plant pests, including weeds (herbicides), insects (insecticides) and fungi (fungicides). |
| Rapeseed |
Plant initially used for the production of industrial oils. Rapeseed was modified by plant breeders to produce canola, which is used as oil for cooking and feed for livestock. |
| Tonnes |
A metric unit of measurement of weight. One tonne is 1,000 kilograms, or 2,204 pounds. |
| Transgenic plants |
A plant containing stably integrated recombinant DNA in all its cells. The new piece of DNA is spliced into a chromosome in each of its cells. This "new piece" of DNA typically contains a gene that was obtained from another organism (plant, animal or otherwise), and is modified so that it would be expressed in the new organism. |
