Gene Editing Will Change Modern Agriculture

Corn has been a valuable resource to mankind for some ten thousand years. However the plant itself has mutated, and what we know as corn today hardly resembles the crop first used by Mesoamericans. Thanks to new scientific discoveries, the way scientist study corn is about to change. In an article from KTIC Radio in Nebraska, Dyllan Furness describes how new gene editing tools are allowing scientists to hack into genomes and insert select traits into animals and plants.

With these new gene editing tools, Furness predicts that the agricultural industry will see major changes in the future. Furness writes, “We’ll soon have corn with higher crop yields, mushrooms that don’t brown, pigs with more meat on the bone, and disease resistant cattle”.

In this article, Furness describes:

• New technology in gene editing
• The legal problems associated with this new technology
• How CISPR, a gene editing tool, was discovered
• The positives and negatives of using gene editing tools

As gene editing tools become more accessible, many people still have reservations when it comes to how and where the tools should be used. However, there are still many advocating for continued use of gene editing tools. Furness writes, “These scientific advances in gene editing have huge potential that many experts think could help fortify our food system and feed an increasing population of farmers who are threatened by food scarcity caused, in part, by climate change”.

To learn more, see the full article from Dyllan Furness at KTIC Radio.