Seeds of Science: Why We Got It So Wrong on GMOs
Bloomsbury: 2018. 304pp. £17:00
Few new technologies have stirred stronger emotions than the method that has come to be known in Europe as genetic modification (GM) of plants. The very name evokes a puzzled shake of the head from scientists — modified from what? — as all of our crop plants have been selected over time to be extraordinarily modified from their wild ancestors. When Darwin was asked to express his theory of evolution as succinctly as possible, he said, “Descent, with modification”, and what is descent if not genetics? What is commonly called ‘genetic modification’ in plants was made possible by decades of high-quality research (much in Europe) into how the Agrobacterium tumefaciens bacterium introduces transferred (T-) DNA into plant cells to cause crown gall, and first became widely adopted in the 1980s. These methods of genetic modification enable scientists and crop improvers to introduce defined DNA sequences, carrying one or a few genes that confer specific useful traits into plant chromosomal DNA, along with a ‘selectable marker’ gene that enables those cells that receive the DNA to be identified. Plant GM has enabled insect-resistant cotton, maize and eggplant, removing the need for hundreds of thousands of tons of insecticides to be applied to those crops, and also reducing accumulation of dangerous mycotoxins in our food. Persistent and damaging herbicides have been replaced by herbicides with much lower mammalian toxicity, facilitating no- or low-till agriculture that helps preserve soil organic matter. In addition to these applications, GM has also been used to elevate crop disease resistance and improve food quality. We have learned that sweet potato carries Agrobacterium DNA from a GM event that probably preceded its domestication. In both private and public sectors, those who develop and deploy GM processes (myself included) aim to replace chemistry with genetics, thus reducing the environmental impact of agriculture.
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