Columns:: Worth Repeating

since 12/15/98

Columns::October 8, 2001

Worth repeating

The 2001 D.W. Brooks Lecture was given Oct. 1 by Michael J. Phillips, executive director for food and agriculture at the Biological Industry Organization. Some excerpts from his presentation on “The Future of Agricultural Biotechnology”:
“[Biotechnology] has proceeded with stunning success during the past five years. However, the technology has also been the center of controversy. . . .
“Agricultural biotechnology is a precise science that enables us to find the most beneficial traits, in terms of added nutrition, increased safety or greater ability to fight pests or diseases, and incorporate them in various organisms. . . . Discoveries in biotechnology allow some key crops to have their own protection against insects and disease, allowing these crops to be grown using less chemical pesticides. These new varieties have been adopted by farmers in this country and elsewhere at a rate never before seen in history. Today they are planted on over 100 million acres around the world. In the United States, in a matter of only five years, over 65 percent of the soybeans, almost 70 percent of the cotton and 25 percent of the corn are varieties that have been enhanced through the use of biotechnology. . . .
“An extremely exciting area of research and development is the use of animals in pharmaceutical-product production. . . . Reducing fat in meat is a major research objective. . . . Animal genomics may be used to protect the environment. Scientists today are genetically engineering hogs to produce less-polluting wastes. . . .
“There is very promising research in university laboratories. Very promising research is resulting in foods that may one day contain vaccines. Transgenic potatoes may carry the vaccine for measles. This is especially important for the developing world, where it is very expensive to purchase, transport and store vaccines, especially when vaccines must be refrigerated or transported to remote areas of the country. . . .”

--Faith Peppers

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