Agricultural Biotechnology: The Promise and Prospects of Genetically Modified Crops

Abstract

For millennia, humans have modified plant genes in order to develop crops best suited for food, fiber, feed, and energy production. The earliest efforts, far predating Gregor Mendel's 19th-century discoveries on trait inheritance, involved the selective breeding of plants with desirable characteristics, but the recombination of DNA in offspring was random. Consequently, plant breeding often took decades and frequently yielded crop varieties with unforeseen and undesirable properties. Today, conventional plant breeding remains inherently random and slow, constrained by the availability of desirable traits in closely related plant species. In contrast, agricultural biotechnology employs the modern tools of genetic engineering to reduce uncertainty and breeding time and to transfer traits from more distantly related plants.Arguments in support of and in opposition to the use of genetically engineered seeds have changed little since the technology emerged in the 1980s. On one side, critics express concerns that the technology imposes negative environmental effects and jeopardizes the health of those who consume the "frankenfoods." On the other side, supporters emphasize potential gains from boosting output and lowering food prices for consumers. They argue that such gains are achieved contemporaneous with the adoption of farming practices that lower agrochemical use and lessen soil

Agricultural GMOs—What We Know and Where Scientists Disagree

“…Evidence suggests that some of the effects that GMO crops have at the extensive margin is in fact the result of double-cropping on plots of land that were already cultivated rather than bringing new land into cultivation [50,51]. GMO crops engineered with herbicide resistance enable planting earlier in the growing season by reducing the need for pre-emergence weed control; this in turn provides the additional time needed to plant a second crop in the same season [52]. To the extent that this is the case, the introduction of GMO crops could have a significant benefit for the agricultural land footprint by greatly increasing annual productivity without expanding the area of land cultivated [53].…”

Environmental and Ecological Aspects in the Overall Assessment of Bioeconomy

“…Scientific opinions claiming the safety of current (first generation) agricultural biotechnology (GM) products and urging their application (Barrows et al 2014;Domingo 2016) confront others claiming lack of evidence on their safety (Hilbeck et al 2015;Krimsky 2015), and exaggeration of what risk assessment can demonstrate as so-called ''lack of harm''. Both positions were considered in the latest evaluation by the US National Academy of Sciences (US NAS 2016).…”

Perspectivas futuras e impacto social de las biotecnologías vegetales

“…El mejoramiento in vitro a través de variación somaclonal, mutaciones y selección in vitro tampoco ha sido una solución totalmente efectiva. En cambio, la ingeniería genética permite reducir la incertidumbre y el tiempo, transfiriendo rasgos de plantas más alejadas filogenética-mente (Barrows, Sexton & Zilberman, 2014). Desde el desarrollo de estas plantas mediante la tecnología de ADN recombinante, los cultivos han adquirido características que no hubiesen tenido mediante el mejoramiento convencional (Andrioli, 2013;Ribeiro & Marín, 2012).…”