Biotech on the Farm

摘要

Bad money, says gresham's law, drives good money out of circula-tion. Similarly, for biotechnology these days, hyperbole drives solid evidence out of public view. As a result, the enormous potential for progress in agriculture has been pushed into the shadows. I am neither a farmer nor a plant biologist. But I have been mulling over what the combatants say in the continuing, high-stakes quest for effective innovation in food production. The challenge is urgent: the world population will rise roughly 30 percent by 2020, and little new arable land is available.