Are You Just Right?
Author: Mary Schuler

The new millennium that is now officially under way will be a period of both enormous opportunity and immense challenge for humanity. Technological advances in medicine, computers, agriculture and a dozen other fields hold tremendous potential to improve our lives and broaden our horizons. At the same time, global issues such as hunger, poverty and environmental concerns are sobering reminders that we must continue to seek out innovative solutions to these age-old problems. Nowhere do these opportunities and challenges converge more clearly than in one of the most thrilling fields of the 21st century: biotechnology.

Agricultural biotechnology ?advanced plant breeding techniques that allow researchers to identify and transfer specific genes that create desired traits in plants ?has its origins with the earliest farmers, who for generations have employed selective breeding, cross-breeding and, more recently, hybridization techniques to improve the genetic characteristics of their crops. Today, biotechnology takes that science one step further, enabling researchers to pinpoint precise, safe genetic changes in crops.

And that’s where 21st Century opportunities and challenges converge.

One of the most pressing challenges humanity faces is how to feed a rapidly growing world population on a shrinking supply of farmland. Global population could top 8 billion by 2030, with most of that growth occurring in the poorest areas of the developing world. The United Nations estimates that 800 million people worldwide, many of them children, are already chronically malnourished.

Of course, these are complex problems, and biotechnology cannot solve them alone. But it can help -- and in many areas, it already is.

Researchers are using the tools of biotechnology to produce strains of rice and other biotech crops that are fortified with more beta-carotene, which the body converts to Vitamin A. These crops could potentially help combat Vitamin A deficiency ?a leading cause of blindness in developing countries. Other dietary staples ?like bananas ?could one day be used to deliver vaccines against deadly diseases, helping to overcome problems like lack of refrigeration and medical personnel that plague developing countries today.

Researchers are also exploring the use of biotechnology to protect crops against pests and disease. In Kenya, research is under way on a sweet potato ?a critical dietary staple in Africa ?that protects itself against a devastating plant virus. In the United States, farmers have planted millions of acres of biotech corn, cotton and potatoes that produce their own natural protection against pests, reducing crop losses and cutting costs.

In the future, biotechnology could help farmers grow more food on the same land, even in tough conditions like drought or extreme heat. As a result, biotechnology could help reduce the need to cut down rain forests or other ecologically sensitive lands to grow food.

And that’s just one of the many benefits biotechnology offers for protecting the environment in the 21st century. Crops are also under development that require less tilling, helping to preserve precious topsoil and reduce farm runoff into streams and rivers. And biotechnology may one day provide us with new sources of energy or ways to reduce pollution, producing plants that help reduce our dependence on non-renewable resources such as oil and natural gas.

Consumers worldwide will see biotechnology’s promise at the grocery store too. By enhancing certain genetic characteristics, everyday produce can be fortified with more vitamins and minerals. A tomato now under development, for example, contains more of an anti-oxidant that has been linked to a reduced risk for cancer and heart disease. Other produce is being developed to taste better or stay fresh longer. And scientists are also exploring methods for removing the proteins that cause allergies to certain foods, like peanuts and rice.

Scientists and regulators work together to make sure these potential benefits ?and many more, like naturally decaffeinated coffee or a flower whose honey would deliver medicine ?are safe. Biotechnology crops are exhaustively researched before they ever come to market. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Agriculture hold biotechnology products to the same strict standards as every other product on the market.

In laboratories, on farms and at grocery stores across the world, the old and new ?and the challenges and opportunities of the new millennium ?are converging to make the promise of biotechnology a reality.

Mary Schuler
Year 2000 President
Women Involved In Farm Economics(WIFE)








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Mary Schuler and her family are small grains and pea crops producers. A resident of North Central Montana, she was President of Women Involved in Farm Economics (WIFE) for 2000 and vice president in 1999. As a leader of WIFE, Mrs. Schuler had many notable speaking engagements.

As a witness to the daily importance of biotechnology, Mrs. Schuler's article discusses the benefits that biotechnology has had, not only in agriculture, but in the areas of feeding the hungry and creating more nutritional foods for everyone.

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