California Farm Bureau, CA
06-20-07
Agriculture in the genomics age
By Stewart Truelsen
Two of the hottest areas of science and technology today involve agriculture--the
genomic mapping of plant and animal species and the transition from fossil fuels
to renewable fuels.
What does this say about the future of U.S. agriculture? For starters, agriculture
is right at the forefront of important research and stands to benefit tremendously.
While genomics (the study of genes and their functions) and renewable fuels are
two distinct fields, there are some connections. At Iowa State University, a
$1.25 million IBM supercomputer labeled BlueGene is being used to sequence
the corn genome.
The genome is a complete set of an organism's genetic material--the sum total of
all the information in cells that determines whether we are human or a corn plant.
All that information is derived from studying the arrangement of DNA and genes.
Even with the aid of this supercomputer, it will take scientists about three years to
sequence the corn genome. The results could lead to the development of corn
varieties that yield more ethanol or produce better biodegradable plastics or
tolerate drought better.
Iowa State researchers consider the corn genome one of the most complex
sequencing projects to date. In 2005, the rice genome was mapped and projects
are under way to sequence soybeans and sheep.
One of the most recent announcements was a project to map the swine genome.
Two University of Illinois researchers will head it up, and like the Iowa State
project, it is a collaborative effort with researchers at other universities.
Mapping the swine genome will lead to better animal health and management
and more nutritious meat products, but it could yield much more. According to the
University of Illinois, "Because the pig and human genomes are similar in size,
complexity and organization, researchers expect comparisons will lead to
biomedical advances, including pig-to-human transplants and disease
treatments."
Obviously, genomics brings up a number of moral and ethical questions that
must be dealt with, many of them concerning the use of information from the
human genome which was sequenced a few years ago. Most people would
agree that human cloning is off-limits. But genomics could lead to cures for
cancer and heart disease and will probably be the key to humans living much
longer.
In agriculture, we have witnessed the reluctance of the European Union to accept
biotech crops while the United States and most of the rest of the world recognize
their value to producers and consumers.
The genomics age is here, whether some like it or not. And, any effort to impede
potential benefits that genomics offers humankind--from more and better food to
breakthroughs in health and life-saving medicine--should raise moral and ethical
questions that are even more serious than those surrounding the science itself.