| Autor: |
Pixley KV; International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), 56237 Texcoco, Mexico; email: k.pixley@cgiar.org., Falck-Zepeda JB; International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington, DC 20005-3915, USA., Giller KE; Plant Production Systems Group, Wageningen University & Research (WUR), 6700 AK Wageningen, The Netherlands., Glenna LL; Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Education, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA., Gould F; Genetic Engineering and Society Center and Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, USA., Mallory-Smith CA; Department of Crop and Soil Science, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331, USA., Stelly DM; Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-2474, USA., Stewart CN Jr; Department of Plant Sciences and Center for Agricultural Synthetic Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA. |
| Abstrakt: |
Genetically engineered crops have been grown for more than 20 years, resulting in widespread albeit variable benefits for farmers and consumers. We review current, likely, and potential genetic engineering (GE) applications for the development of disease-resistant crop cultivars. Gene editing, gene drives, and synthetic biology offer novel opportunities to control viral, bacterial, and fungal pathogens, parasitic weeds, and insect vectors of plant pathogens. We conclude that there will be no shortage of GE applications totackle disease resistance and other farmer and consumer priorities for agricultural crops. Beyond reviewing scientific prospects for genetically engineered crops, we address the social institutional forces that are commonly overlooked by biological scientists. Intellectual property regimes, technology regulatory frameworks, the balance of funding between public- and private-sector research, and advocacy by concerned civil society groups interact to define who uses which GE technologies, on which crops, and for the benefit of whom. Ensuring equitable access to the benefits of genetically engineered crops requires affirmative policies, targeted investments, and excellent science. |
