*Stephen M. Millett, Ph.D.

Battelle

Genetic engineering, resulting in genetically modified organisms (GMOs), is the next revolutionary change in hybrid crops. In terms of practicality and impact on the economy, the rate of innovation in agricultural genetic applications exceeds that of the rate of genetic innovation in human health care.

As mentioned above, one application of genetic engineering of crops is to produce bio-materials. This includes fibers for wallboards, paneling, molding, and other construction materials. It might also provide organic (and environmentally friendly) alternatives to plastics in consumer products.

A second application, also mentioned above, is bio-energy. R&D suggests that bio-energy supplements blended with diesel fuel or gasoline may improve engine efficiency and produce less pollution. The use of ethanol as a blend with gasoline is already well known, but not widely used. Yet another possibility for the future is methanol derived from plant matter rather than from natural gas. Bio-produced methanol might emerge as a commercially viable source of hydrogen for fuel cells.

With genetic engineering, crops can be raised specifically for their energy content. They may be designed to require less processing to the end product.

One day Ohio farmers may be tending "fuel farms," where their crops go into energy sources that will contribute to national energy self-sufficiency and relieve, if not eliminate, American economic dependence on foreign sources of oil and natural gas. This may, however, require decades to achieve.

Finally, genetic engineering will lead to designer foods. Varieties of vegetables, fruits, and grains will be engineered for their nutritional as well as their taste and appearance qualities. Just as hybridization in the past created a green revolution that gave us more hardy and productive crops, genetic engineering can be the driver for innovative foods for a growing world population. Virtually any crop in the future could be engineered to reinforce its nutritional contents, leading to more balanced diets. In the near future, for example, a tomato may be genetically engineered with high vitamins and minerals but with low acidity.

One concept that has gained interest is nutraceuticals, or food products genetically engineered to deliver a pharmaceutical substance to the consumer in place of pills and injections. The R&D being performed today in the laboratories of Ohio’s universities and companies will lead to natural foodstuffs with pharmaceutical and nutritional benefits. This could happen within the next 10 years and certainly within the next 20 years.

In addition to genetically modifying the nutritional and health properties of foods, new crops can be designed to withstand weeds, pests, and drought, leading to more organic quality foodstuffs. Genetically engineered crops could be grown with little or no added weed-killing chemicals and fertilizers. The ability of plants to withstand drought would relieve the heavy burden on water systems created by agricultural irrigation and reduce the risk of plant growth under the annual, regional variations of Ohio’s weather.

When genetically engineered corn and soybeans were first introduced in Ohio, there was public concern about the unknown but potentially negative environmental and human health impacts. The public concern over genetically altered corn, in particular, has required farmers to progress slowly with further DNA-engineered crops. On the other hand, the lack of public protest and the great appeal to farmers of genetically engineered soybeans and corn has further increased its planting in Ohio as well as in other states.

Ohio is a great farming state, but its size in comparison with larger states will put Ohio at an agricultural disadvantage if Ohio has to compete only on quantities and market prices of commodity foodstuffs. To be successful in the future, Ohio farms must produce value-added products that compete on value rather than cost. Biotechnology as applied to agriculture, for both crops and farm animals, is the best candidate to give Ohio its opportunity to re-emerge as a national leader at the supermarket and chemical plant.