Skip to content
The world needs regulatory reform and greater R&D investment to enable “moonshot” biotech innovations in food production that can meet our growing food needs, say 153 Nobel and World Food Prize Laureates in an open letter.
“Since the Green Revolution of the last century, our understanding of biology and genetics has increased greatly. However, requisite productivity increases are now hampered by lack of investment in basic and applied research, and by regulatory barriers prohibiting distribution and use of research advancements,” warns the letter, published Jan. 14.
Already, 700,000,000 people in the world are food insecure, and the challenge of feeding the world will increase when the world adds 1.5 billion people to its population by 2050, especially as “climate change is projected to decrease the productivity of most major staples,” according to the letter.
“There is hope. Agricultural R&D has long been essential to increasing food production,” but we must enable more innovation says the open letter, whose prestigious signatories include CRISPR pioneer Jennifer Doudna, Robert Woodrow Wilson, Cary Fowler, the 14th Dalai Lama, and Joseph E. Stiglitz.
These innovations can be developed by “building on recent advancements in biology and genetics,” to develop new crops with enhanced photosynthesis, improved nitrogen fixation, increased annual harvests, and longer storage and shelf life. Innovations can also increase food safety, enable the development of overlooked crops, and create nutrient-rich food from microorganisms and fungi, according to the letter.
What biotech is doing on food security
Biotech is already creating solutions to the challenges cited in the letter, for example by developing more productive corn, rice, and potatoes.
As for the challenge of longer shelf life, gene editing can produce potatoes that are less likely to bruise and a strawberry with a greatly extended shelf life of 15-20 days.
Progress in farming animals includes gene editing to help develop birds resistant to avian flu and pigs resistant to deadly diseases. Cattle developed through gene editing to have shorter hair and greater heat tolerance can better withstand the challenges of climate change. Biotech is also developing alternative sources of protein.
Efforts to increase sustainability through biotech include reducing carbon emissions with biofuels, improvements in regenerative agriculture and reducing inputs, and making crops more tolerant of climate extremes.
“Agricultural research enjoys extremely favorable returns on investment,” says the letter, which calls for greater support to enable this research. “Society sponsored research will be the foundation of the innovation that drives a successful food system of the future,” they write.
