by Ethan Dolby, Economics major

Sadly, there is much negativity surrounding genetically engineered crops in this day and age. Misleading news articles and a general lack of education regarding the subject casts a cloud that looms over potential genetic engineering breakthroughs. Golden Rice is one marvel of genetic engineering that has been able to break through the cloud of negativity in route to improving the lives of millions of people.

Golden rice is a genetically modified strain of rice that has been altered to promote the synthesis of vitamin A within the seeds of the plant. Although vitamin A can be found in the leaves of traditional rice plants, there are no naturally occurring strains that contain vitamin A inside the seeds.

Why is vitamin A important?

• Promotes healthy vision
• Aids cell division
• Essential for reproduction
• Supports bone, skin and immune health

Vitamin A is one of the most important micro nutrients that humans intake through their diet. Vitamin A deficiencies cause blindness and even death. The problem is especially prevalent in populations of malnourished children who are more susceptible to the problems associated with vitamin deficiencies. Children’s immune systems are already weaker and thus lack of vitamin A causes them to contract many harmful diseases.

Each year nearly twelve million children die of vitamin A deficiencies worldwide. Many of those children come from the four hundred million rice consuming poor. Golden rice provides an unparalleled opportunity to save the lives of millions.

Economic Sustainability

What makes golden rice the best solution for rice consuming countries is the sustainability. Many of the countries facing these vitamin A problems are either too poor or too large to incorporate large scale government programs to provide relief to their populations. It would cost small countries like Nepal two million dollars annually to provide vitamin A supplementation.

Golden rice doesn’t require any complicated or reoccurring logistical problems once they have been implemented into the countries crop production. While many countries have adopted the crop, other are still holding back due to cultural or personal reservations.

What people need to understand is that there has been no documents illnesses derived from genetically engineered crops. Not only are they safe to eat but they clearly can provide some wonderful health benefits. Genetically engineered crops have the potential to solve many of the world’s problems. Golden rice is a great example.

Bio:

Growing up spelunking, hiking and camping I developed a love for nature and science. Driving a hybrid car and conscientious resource management is how I make sure I am doing my part to help the environment. I initially went to Ohio State to become either a chemical or environmental engineer. Through my classwork however I discovered a love for economics. I love getting the chance to combine two of my passions.

Citation:

Courtesy Www.openwebdesign.org / Modified: Jorge Mayer. “Golden Rice Project.” Vitamin A                          Deficiency. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 June 2017.

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This blog post was an assignment for Societal Issues: Pesticides, Alternatives and the Environment (PLNTPTH 4597). The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the class, Department of Plant Pathology or the instructor.

by Sam Walter, Sustainable Plant Systems major

The current world population is shy of 7.5 billion and is climbing. As the population increases, the available water, land, and resources are diminishing quickly. Scientists are urgently looking for ways to accommodate the growing population on limited land. Recently, professors at Florida Tech along with NASA have been researching something that could possibly help solve this issue: growing plants on Mars. If Mars can sustain life and grow plants humans will be able to live on Mars. Water and building materials will need to be transported to the Red planet reducing costs and improving efficiency.

Successfully growing vegetation on Mars will not be easy. The average temperature of Mars is -80 degrees Fahrenheit but has a wide range from -195 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The substance that covers mars surface is called regolith and is similar to volcanic rocks. Scientists are waiting on a sample from Mars that is estimated to be 15 years from now. For the experiment, scientists will use volcanic rock from Hawaii. The regolith contains toxic metals that may be taken up with the water and fertilizer.

Drew Palmer, a biochemistry and chemical ecology professor at Florida Tech, and Brooke Wheeler, an ecologist and professor in the College of Aeronautics at Florida Tech, conducted a three-and-a-half-week pilot study growing lettuce in 3 variations of growing media using only stimulant, stimulant with added nutrients and the control is potting soil. The experiment began with 30 samples but only half made it to the conclusion of the study. The scientists tested the level of toxic metals in the lettuce and found very low levels of metals. The lettuce grown in the stimulant tasted the same as that grown in the potting soil but the stimulant grown lettuce did not have as strong of roots as the potting soil grown lettuce.

In September, NASA and Florida Tech came together to conduct a 9-month experiment testing radishes, swiss chard, kale Chinese cabbage, snow peas, dwarf peppers, and tomatoes. NASA scientists are taking charge with the stimulant choice and setup of the experiment while Florida Tech students will conduct the experiment. After the experiment, NASA will help Florida Tech analyze plant health.

I think that NASA will make it possible for life on Mars, but I don’t think it will happen for another 30+ years. The extensive research needed to fully compose a plan for human life to take place and thrive on Mars will take numerous years. Before life is established there will need to be multiple test runs and experiments to ensure that human life is possible. There are many factors that still need to be assessed and thoroughly investigated before humans will live on Mars.

Review of Sources or Literature

www.worldometers.info/world-population/ 

www.nasa.gov/feature/can-plants-grow-with-mars-soil

www.nasa.gov/feature/farming-in-martian-gardens

phys.org/news/2016-10-explore-possibilities-mars.html

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This blog post was an assignment for Societal Issues: Pesticides, Alternatives and the Environment (PLNTPTH 4597). The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the class, Department of Plant Pathology or the instructor.

by Grant Hodge, Sustainable Plant Systems major

A very debatable topic a few years ago was the country of origin labeling laws (COOL) for food products. This law was passed back in 2002 and was revised in 2008. Then a couple of years ago, in 2015 this law was repealed. Hearing about it on RFDTV I did not fully understand the law at the time but the argument here is that some people want their food, particularly meat to be labeled with the name of the country that it originated from.

If you are like me, your first thought is wondering what the big deal is here? It should not be a big deal to add a couple of words to a food package that already contains hundreds of words already. In fact as many of us know, this is a common practice for many other electronic, plastic, and household goods that usually contain the words “Made in China” and so why can’t our food be labeled with something similar?  As I researched farther into this topic I discovered that there is a lot more that goes into those few small words.

To start off with, money is a huge part of it. To implement this labeling and the added record keeping required, the USDA estimated this could cost up to $3.9 billion in the first year. The second big argument is that this labeling will hurt other countries products. They fear that the label will imply that the quality is not as good, even though the meat must pass the same quality standards as domestic meat (Country of Origin Labeling 2017).

I personally support COOL because I think it allows our meat produced in the U.S. to stand out competitively. In this modern world the trend has been for consumers to know more and more about what goes into their food and this labeling helps satisfy that want. I think the labeling can create more demand for U.S. meats and hopefully more profit for the producers and result in a happier consumer.

Works Cited

“Country of Origin Labeling.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 10 June 2017. Web. 15 June 2017. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country_of_Origin_Labeling>.

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This blog post was an assignment for Societal Issues: Pesticides, Alternatives and the Environment (PLNTPTH 4597). The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the class, Department of Plant Pathology or the instructor.

by Jonathan LaBorde, Sustainable Plant Systems major

Here in America it seems that scientists have already made the consensus that CRISPR created crops should not be treated as if they are Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s). In the United Kingdom (UK) and much of Europe this is not the case. As the United States has approved the use of CRISPR created white button mushrooms and corn, the UK is still dealing with the ethical issues of using this new technology.

CRISPR is essentially being able to find and edit existing genes in DNA sequences. Unlike GMO’s where one is taking foreign DNA from a separate organism and inserting it into the desired organism, CRISPR only involves the gene(s) of choice.

Since this is still modifying the DNA, much discussion is going on about how this new technology should be categorized. By only using the genes present and editing them using CRISPR proteins, it is almost impossible to tell the difference between these crops and the traditionally bred ones.

Penny Maplestone, chief executive of the British Society of Plant Breeders has voiced her concerns saying, “It is very frustrating that we have no guidelines whatsoever from the European commission, despite the length of time it has had to consider what is, after all, an enormously important issue.” (US moves to sell gene-edited mushrooms fuel doubts over British ban on GM imports)

While it seems that there will in fact be restrictions in much of Europe on this new technology, many plant breeders and scientists are still researching the potential that CRISPR has to offer. Some examples include researchers that have created a strain of barley using CRISPR that can create its own ammonium fertilizer, a help to areas with poor soil nutrition. Or a group that is researching a beet that can produce L-Dopa, a drug that is used to treat Parkinson’s disease.

As scientists around the world embrace this new technology, those that fall under the European commission still wait to hear if commercial cultivation of their products will ever be allowed. As with GMO’s, this technology will likely gain criticism by much of the public throughout the world.

Source of Information:

The Guardian. McKie, Robin. April, 2016 > “US moves to sell gene-edited mushrooms fuel doubts over British ban on GM imports.”

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This blog post was an assignment for Societal Issues: Pesticides, Alternatives and the Environment (PLNTPTH 4597). The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the class, Department of Plant Pathology or the instructor.