Imagine street lights that are self-constructing, self-repairing, self-replicating, solar-powered, and carbon-negative because they’re just bioluminescent trees
Imagine fibrous plants that grow super-strong spider silk. Plants that grow as fast as bamboo but as strong as steel
Imagine medicine coming in fruit instead of pills. Oh you want to transition? Here, take this HRT shrub. Put it on your windowsill, water it daily and throw some compost at it every once in a while, and eat one berry per day
Imagine crops that are more nutritious, disease- and pest-resistant, and grow in harsher climates and soil conditions, helping to provide more reliable food to impoverished peoples with no downside whatsoever oh wait we already have those don’t we
We can’t have rad forest cities full of dope biotech if we’re too scared to let people do the research that’ll lead to that. Science has spoken: the fear is unjustified, and GMOs are safe. Let’s embrace them!
From now on? I thought we already were! 😬
So here’s an interesting little bit of biotech that’s being worked on to help combat food insecurity…
Errr, first off, a little background? Plants have three different types of photosynthesis, based on the biochemical pathways the plant uses to capture CO₂ and make sugars for energy. The most common one is C3 photosynthesis, and it’s very old. This kind of photosynthesis probably evolved sometime in the mesozoic era, back when there were still dinosaurs wandering around.
Another type is C4 photosynthesis, which is a more recently evolved pathway. C4 carbon fixation is a lot more efficient, provides plants with more energy, and captures more CO₂. It evolved in environments with lots of light, so it’s common in warm parts of the world. In fact, C4 photosynthesis is so efficient that even though only about 5% of plants use it, they account for about 23% of the carbon fixation of all terrestrial plants!
C4 is the pathway used by sugarcane, which is what gives sugarcane one of the highest photosynthetic efficiencies of any plant. It’s also the pathway used by maize (corn) and sorghum (a popular grain in parts of Africa).
Anyway, that brings me to the genetic modification part.
The modified rice would theoretically be able to give higher crop yields, and do so using fewer nutrients and resources. As an added bonus, it would also help remove excess CO₂ from the atmosphere. The efforts are being coordinated by the International Rice Research Institute, who’ve received millions of dollars in donations towards the project – they’re the same organisation behind the golden rice project which was about making rice more nutritious for people affected by food scarcity.
Anyway tl;dr science is cool, genetic modification is a good thing, and it can be used to help end world hunger.
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