Agriculture and Industry

How can genetic engineering benefit agriculture and industry?

Everything we eat and much of what we wear come from living organisms. Not surprisingly, then, researchers have used genetic engineering to try to improve the products we get from plants and animals. Ideally, genetic modification could lead to better, less expensive, and more nutritious food as well as less-harmful manufacturing processes.

GM Crops Since their introduction in 1996, genetically modified (GM) plants, like the soybeans in Figure 15–13, have become an important component of our food supply. In 2007, GM crops made up 92 percent of soybeans, 86 percent of cotton, and 80 percent of corn grown in the United States. One type of modification, which has already proved particularly useful to agriculture, uses bacterial genes that produce a protein known as Bt toxin. While this toxin is harmless to humans and most other animals, enzymes in the digestive systems of insects convert Bt to a form that kills the insects. Plants with the Bt gene, then, do not have to be sprayed with pesticides. In addition, they produce higher yields of crops.

Resistance to insects is just one useful characteristic being engineered into crops. Others include resistance to herbicides, which are chemicals that destroy weeds, and resistance to viral infections. Some transgenic plants may soon produce foods that are resistant to rot and spoilage. And engineers are currently developing GM plants that may produce plastics for the manufacturing industry.

FIGURE 15–13 GM Soybeans Genetically modified soybeans are a popular crop in the United States.