Thanks to genetic modification a new strain of wheat is being grown in greenhouses, with yields up by 15 to 20 per cent, a team at Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, UK, recently announced.  The researchers have asked the government for permission to carry out field trials  in the spring.  If the plants produce anything like a 15 per cent increase in yield in real fields, it will be a spectacular result. In the UK, wheat yields have plateaued at around 8 tonnes per hectare. Getting more wheat from the same area of land would have massive environmental benefits – freeing up land to set aside for wildlife or to capture carbon, for example.

The results have been achieved by adding extra copies of an enzyme called SBPase to increase the supply of a five-carbon molecule that often runs short in plants such as wheat. Plants make food by adding carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to this molecule. This modification will also help plants take advantage of rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere.

The team say they have made other genetic alterations that also boost yields in greenhouse tests, although they are keeping the details to themselves for the moment. Several of these yield-boosting modifications could be “stacked” together in a single strain to create superplants. In a world of rising CO2 and with ever more demand for food, they could make a big difference. (New Scientist)

Our hope for the human race could lie in the cleverness of scientists like this, working for the good of mankind, not for the balance sheets of chemical manufacturers. They are heros and offer hope for the future.