Pharma and Industrial Crops
Agricultural biotechnology is entering a new age. No longer are researchers concentrating only on inserting genes that result in plants with traits like herbicide tolerance and insect resistance that make crops cheaper or easier for farmers to grow. Now they are inserting genes to create plants that contain drugs and industrial chemicals – in essence turning the crops into biological factories.
Pharmaceutical and industrial crops promise compelling benefits and pose obvious risks. They hold the potential to supply drugs that are otherwise unavailable or to bring existing drugs to market at lower prices. On the other hand, if genes find their way from pharm crops into food crops, we could wind up with drug-laced corn flakes or taco shells.
