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Green Biotechnology for Food Security in Climate Change
Kevan MA Gartland and Jill S Gartland, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, Scotland
Ó 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Climate Change and Food Security
Green Biotechnology and Food Security
Green Biotechnology Crops
Drought Tolerance
Salt Stress and Flooding Tolerance
Emergent Technologies for Regulating Gene Expression in Food Crops
Attitudes, Needs, and the Future
References
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Climate Change and Food Security
Climate change effects include rising temperatures and increasingly frequent extreme weather events including drought, storms, or
flooding (FAO, 2014). Negative impacts on agricultural and aquacultural productivity including food crops, livestock, forestry, and
fisheries are inevitable. Climate change is sometimes referred to as ‘global warming,’ although it more accurately also includes the
increasing frequency of extreme weather events and unusual variations in weather patterns. Climate change effects where and how
particular types of food can be produced, pre- and postharvest losses, and the effective range of pathogens. Nutritional properties,
such as mineral and vitamin content of foods, are also likely to be affected. Quantitative estimates of the effects of climate change
include a 4 C rise in mean global temperatures by 2060, which will impact greatly on yields of global crops such as rice, wheat,
maize, and soya (IPCC, 2014).
Food security encompasses the ability of all people, at all times to have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and
nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life (FAO, 2014). Four dimensions of
food security have been identified, as outlined in Table 1 (Ruane and Sonnino, 2011).
More than 925 million people will be undernourished by 2020, including 16% of developing country populations. This startling
need, combined with 40% of the global population relying on agriculture for some or all of their income (Yashveer et al., 2015;
Federoff, 2015), means that climate change is probably the biggest threat to global food security. Gradual temperature increases
and extreme weather events will lead to declining yields, increased soil degradation, and pollution through nitrogen runoff as
increasing use is made of chemical fertilizers to prop up food production (Godfrey and Garnett, 2014). Wheat yields globally
have already begun to decline (Figure 1; Goldenberg, 2014), and forecasts for sub-Saharan Africa of 22% wheat, 14% rice, and
5% maize yield decreases by 2050 (Fernandez, 2011) demonstrate the scale of the threat to food security posed by climate change.
Opportunities for mitigation include enhancing adaptation to the progressive effects of climate change, better management of
global warming–related agricultural risks, crop substitution in altered environments, agricultural intensification, and reducing
deforestation for agricultural purposes (Vermeulen et al., 2012). Although seemingly counterintuitive, reducing deforestation by
10% can save 500 million tonnes CO2 equivalents emissions over 5 years and keep more land available for food production (Smith
et al., 2008).
Table 1
Dimensions of food security
Food security dimension
Examples
Food availability
Access to food
Utilization of food
Production and processing, trade
Marketing and transport, incomes and buying power
Health status, nutritious food choices, food quality and
safety, clean water and sanitation
Ensuring physical and economic access
Food system stability
Sources: Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, 2011. Climate Change, Water and Food
Security. FAO. Water Report 36; Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, 2014. FAO Success
Stories on Climate Smart Agriculture. FAO. I3871E/1/05.14. www.fao.org/climatechange/climatesmart; Ruane,
J., Sonnino, A., 2011. Agricultural biotechnologies in developing countries and their possible contribution to
food security. J. Biotechnol. 156, 356–363.
Reference Module in Food Sciences
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-100596-5.03071-7
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Green Biotechnology for Food Security in Climate Change
Figure 1
Durum wheat grains. Source: USDA Photo Services.
Green Biotechnology and Food Security
Biotechnology uses any biological systems, living organisms, or derivatives to make or modify products or processes for specific use
(United Nations Convention on Biodiversity, 1992). When applied to agricultural processes, this is known as green biotechnology.
Among the approaches being used in combating climate change to ensure food security, sustainable intensification and climate
smart agriculture are globally relevant. Sustainable intensification seeks to increase food production from a decreased land area
through greater intensification and enhanced extensification of land being used in agriculture (Godfray and Garnett, 2014).
Achieving this will involve ecological, genetic, and market intensification. Climate smart agriculture seeks to use breeding, technological, and policy tools to increase the sustainability and resilience of food production systems; reduce greenhouse gas emissions;
and enhance achievement of national food security and development goals (Conway, 2012). Green biotechnology is making significant contributions to combating climate change. This contribution includes the use of technology in everything from conventional
breeding and marker-aided selection to genetic modification and the application of genomics in agriculture. Marker-aided selection
uses a morphological, biochemical, or DNA/RNA variation markers for indirect selection or determination of an interesting trait.
Examples of such traits include yield, grain size, disease resistance, stress tolerance, or some aspect of quality. Genomics applies
nucleic acids (DNA or RNA), sequencing recombinant DNA, or other bioinformatics approaches to the structure and function of
genomes. Recent progress in agricultural genomics includes the sequencing of 65% of the complex and gene dense barley (Hordeum
vulgare, Figure 2) genome by the International Barley Sequencing Consortium (Munoz-Amitriain et al., 2015).
Green Biotechnology Crops
The application of biotechnology to agriculture offers a wide range of potential advantages in aiding food security. Examples of
these green biotechnology advantages are outlined in Table 2. Attaining the full potential of green biotechnology for food security,
Figure 2
Barley, Hordeum vulgare. Source: WikiCommons.
Green Biotechnology for Food Security in Climate Change
Table 2
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Contributions of green biotechnology to food security
Contribution
Example
References
Food production increased
33 000 tonnes drought-tolerant maize seed, providing up
to 25% yield advantage under water-stressed
conditions, distributed in 2013 by Drought Tolerance
for Africa Project
Overexpression TaNF-YB4 gene in transgenic wheat
improves grain yield in 775 l containerized trials
Papaya resistant to ringspot virus
Potato intensification
Drought-tolerant maize hybrids increase water use
efficiency by up to 30%
Low/no tilling crops led to 25.9 billion kg additional soil
carbon sequestration in 2013
Reduced tractor usage for tilling, spraying, irrigating
reduced CO2 emissions by 2.1 billion kg in 2013
Marker-aided selection, genomics
7.6 kilotonnes reduction in insecticide use for 2012 from
insect-resistant maize
203 million kg herbicide use reduction by
herbicide-tolerant maize farmers 1996–2013
Drought-tolerant ‘DroughtGard’ maize planting in the USA
increased 5.5 in 2014
Pro-vitamin A in ‘Golden Rice’
Abate (2014) and Zilberman et al. (2014)
Yield losses reduced
Increased intensification
Agricultural water use reduced
Reduced soil physical damage
Greenhouse gas emissions
decreased
Breeding cycle time reduced
Insecticide use decreased
Herbicide use decreased
Enhanced adaptation
Improved nutritional properties
Yadav et al. (2015)
Gonsalves and Gonsalves (2014) and Bruce (2011)
Katoh et al. (2014) and Masiga et al. (2014)
Haoa et al. (2015)
James (2014)
Brookes and Barfoot (2015)
Munoz-Amitriain et al. (2015)
Brookes and Barfoot (2014) and Mutuc et al. (2011)
ISAAA (2014a)
James (2014)
Bollineni et al. (2014) and Tang et al. (2009)
for example, through sustainable intensification and climate smart agriculture requires lessons from the first agricultural ‘green revolution’ to be learned (Borlaug, 2000, 2003; McKenzie and Williams, 2015). Climate change affects food production and food security globally. Temperate regions are experiencing the impact of climate change earlier than previously thought (IPCC, 2014). When
these changes are allied to rising global population, forecast to increase from the current 7.2 to 9.6 billion by 2050 (Federoff, 2015),
expectations of 70% more food being needed appear realistic (Bruce, 2011) and the challenge to food security becomes greater
(Federoff, 2015). Green biotechnology can make a valuable contribution to meeting increased food needs, through its various
forms, including genetic modification, alongside conventional and organic forms of agriculture. No single approach or agricultural
model can, however, be a panacea, as the needs and environments of populations around the world differ so widely.
Biotechnology crops were grown in 28 countries by more than 18 million farmers on 181 million ha in 2014, an increase of
3.5% on 2013. Ninety percent of these were small, poorly resourced farmers (James, 2014). The largest plantings ranged
from 73.1 million ha of biotechnology crops (food crops plus cotton) in the United States to 42.2 million ha in Brazil and
24.3 million ha in Argentina. 20 of the 28 countries involved are developing nations, with the smallest planting being 2 ha
of brinjal (aka aubergine or eggplant) expressing Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxins for insect resistance planted in Bangladesh,
being 1 of 7 Asian countries adopting biotechnology crops (ISAAA, 2014b). Within the European Union, 5 of the 28 member
states planted biotech maize (Figure 3), typically Bt traits (Figure 4; James, 2014). Selected current developments and applications of green biotechnology to food crops will now be considered.
Drought Tolerance
Rising temperatures and increased competition for available water are important challenges for agriculture, accounting for approximately 70% of global water use. Extended drought yield losses can exceed 40% in rice, being particularly severe in South and Southeast Asia, where 23 million ha of rice is rainfed (Figure 5; IRRI, 2015), yet requires 3000–5000 l of water to produce 1 kg of rice seed
(Todaka et al., 2015).
Drought tolerance is regulated by many small-effect genetic loci, while hundreds of genes are involved in physiological
responses to drought (Hu and Xiong, 2014). Unraveling and manipulating drought perception, transduction of
drought-related signals and adaptation mechanisms for increased food security remains a long-term goal (Reyes, 2009).
Short-duration indica rice varieties such as Sahbhagi Dhan (literally ‘bred by collaboration’), released in India in 2010, have
delivered yield gains of 0.8–1.0 tonnes ha1 (Dar et al., 2014). While conventional breeding has made some progress in developing drought-tolerant hybrids, progress has been quickened using biotechnological tools, including marker-aided selection,
genomics, and genetic modification. Transgenic rice expressing the CaMsrB2 gene performs equivalently to unmodified Ilmi
rice in unstressed conditions (Dhungana et al., 2015), while the Oshox24 drought-responsive promoter is a strong candidate
for drought-inducible gene expression in rice (Nakashima et al., 2014). Overexpressing the rice quantitative trait locus Deeper
Rooting 1 (DRO1) increased rooting depth when backcrossed into shallow rooting rice genotypes to increase yield under drought
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Green Biotechnology for Food Security in Climate Change
Figure 3
Maize, Zea mays. Source: USDA Photo Services.
Figure 4
European Corn borer on maize leaf. Source: USDA Photo Services.
Figure 5
Rice, Oryza sativa. Source: USDA Photo Services.
Green Biotechnology for Food Security in Climate Change
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stress conditions (Uga et al., 2013). DRO1 encourages downward root growth and is the first crop root quantitative trait locus to
be cloned and overexpressed in this way.
Genuity DroughtGardÒ maize expressing the Bacillus subtilis CspB RNA chaperone has been marketed since 2013, delivering up
to 51 kg ha1 yield enhancements (Morsy, 2015). Expressing rice trehalose-6-phosphate phosphatase in developing maize ears,
under the regulation of the Mads6 promoter, reduced trehalose-6-phosphate concentration, which influences maize growth and
development and increased ear spikelet sucrose concentration. Multiseason and multilocation field data demonstrated that
trehalose-6-phosphate overexpression in this way improved kernel set and harvest index, with 9–49% yield increases under nondrought or mild drought conditions and 31–123% under severe drought conditions (Nuccio et al., 2015).
Integrating findings from marker-aided selection and quantitative trait loci with genomic sequences including single nucleotide
polymorphism variations will enhance drought resistance breeding. DNA chip, microarray, and whole genome transcript profiling
approaches have increased the numbers of drought-responsive genes identified (Hu and Xiong, 2014). Extensive microarray analysis of four drought-tolerant and drought-sensitive rice varieties identified 413 shared upregulated and 245 common downregulated genes in response to drought stress (Degenkolbe et al., 2009). Comparing drought or abscisic acid–treated sorghum
transcripts with model and major crop transcript databases revealed 50 novel drought-responsive genes (Dugas et al., 2011). Proteomic and metabolomic profiling have allowed 60 proteins and 37 differentially expressed metabolites to be identified in
drought-stressed rice seedlings (Shu et al., 2011), while 8 metabolites were positively correlated with drought stress among
21 rice cultivars (Degenkolbe et al., 2013). Epigenetic analysis of genome-wide DNA methylation patterns in rice identified
more than 5400 drought-responsive genes, with 75% of the chromatin folding and remodeling genes identified being downregulated (Shaik and Ramakrishna, 2012). MicroRNAs, short, 22-nucleotide-long single-stranded sequences, are also believed to be
involved in regulating stress responses at the molecular level. Taken collectively, these findings illustrate the complexity, diversity,
and partial nature of drought-related response knowledge from food crops (Hu and Xiong, 2014). Examples of drought response
candidate genes, many of which were identified by integrating genomics and transgenic approaches, are shown in Table 3.
The genetically modified drought-tolerant maize MON87460 expressing cold shock Protein B, currently approved in 13 countries and the European Union, and deployed in Canada, the United States, and Japan, is delivering up to 20% increased yields
under water-stressed conditions (Heinemann, 2013; Sammons et al., 2014; Nemali et al., 2015; ISAAA, 2015). Marker-aided
selection is widely deployed in the Water Efficient Maize for Africa project, with support from the Howard G. Buffet and Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundations in sub-Saharan Africa (ISAAA, 2008; Fisher et al., 2015). Enhancing soil water extraction potential
and water use efficiency through marker-aided selection has increased grain yield by up to 24% in American drought-tolerant
maize trials (Hao et al., 2015). Combining precise knowledge of phenotypic properties with the use of genomic and trait architecture data will continue to enhance maize hybrid yields incrementally (Cooper et al., 2014). Drought tolerance control
networks involve transcription factors, protein kinases, receptor-like kinases, and osmoprotectants, among other mechanisms
(Todaka et al., 2015; see Table 3). Use of dehydration-responsive element-binding factors (Chen et al., 2013) such as OsDREB1A
enhances tolerance to a range of environmental stresses, including drought, and salt tolerance, from Australian rice trials
(Hussain et al., 2014). Drought tolerance also involves increased production and vacuolar storage of a range of solutes, including
proline, glycine-betaine, mannitol, and trehalose to try and maintain water balance. Leaf wilting, abscisic acid–related stomatal
closure, and altered photosynthesis patterns are also used to decrease transpiration water losses, along with altered root growth
patterns to search for more water (ISAAA, 2013; Borrell et al., 2014). In wheat, overexpressing the CCAAT box-binding transcription factor TaNFYA-B1 stimulated enhanced root development as well as nitrate and phosphorus transporters (Qu et al., 2014).
Arabidopsis ERA1 b-subunit of farnesyltransferase is involved in reversible drought tolerance induction and may be applicable to
a range of crop plants to deliver higher yields than conventionally bred genotypes under water stress conditions without yield
drag in normal conditions. MicroRNAs are known to impact on a wide range of transcriptional networks. The microRNAs
miR1435, miR5024, and miR7714 have been found in water-stressed roots of the drought-tolerant wheat genotype TR39477,
but are absent from drought-sensitive lines (Akpinar et al., 2015). These microRNAs may be good indicators of potential
drought tolerance in future breeding studies.
Table 3
Drought-resistance candidate genes
Function
Protein and gene
Example
Source and host
References
Protein kinases
Transcription factors
Protein degradation
Protein modification
MAP kinase OsMAPK5
Zinc finger protein DST
Ubiquitin ligase OssDIR1
Farnesyltransferase/squalene
synthase SQS1
Molybdenum cofactor
sulfurase LOS5
Trehalose synthesis OsTPS1
Late embryogenesis abundant
protein HVA1
Abscisic acid–inducible response
Stomatal aperture control regulation
Drought tolerance response
RNAi-mediated disruption
Rice
Rice
Rice
Rice
Xiong and Yang (2003)
Huang et al. (2009)
Gao et al. (2011)
Manavalan et al. (2011)
Enhanced drought tolerance and yield
Arabidopsis, soybean
Li et al. (2013)
Vacuolar storage
Desiccation protection
Rice
Barley, wheat
Li et al. (2011)
Sivamani et al. (2000)
Abscisic acid metabolism
Osmotic adjustment
Dehydrins
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Green Biotechnology for Food Security in Climate Change
Salt Stress and Flooding Tolerance
Salinity affects more than 20% of the world’s agricultural soils. Climate change will lead to rising sea levels, doubling
salt-contaminated areas by 2050 (IPCC, 2014). Using marker-aided selection can speed up conventional breeding processes for
traits such as salt stress. Plant responses to salt stress can be either rapid or following long-term exposure. Rapid responses may
include stomatal closure, inhibition of shoot elongation, and increased leaf temperature (Roy et al., 2014). Extended salt stress
frequently leads to declines in growth rate and reproductive development affecting seed formation (Julkowska and Testerink,
2015). Salt tolerance mechanisms are frequently multigenic and multilocational. Studying the inheritance patterns of molecular
markers linked to salt tolerance will be of benefit in overcoming a major obstacle to food crop production in areas likely to be
flooded due to climate change (Roy et al., 2014). Introgression of the high-affinity potassium transporter gene TmHKT1;5-A
from einkorn wheat (Triticum monococcum) into durum wheat (Triticum turgidum var. durum) lines by marker-aided selection has
produced up to 25% yield gains under saline conditions when compared with unimproved genotypes (Munns et al., 2012; James
et al., 2011; Munns and Gilliham, 2015). Although genetic modification approaches have yet to garner such impressive field performance in commercially important wheats, a truncated form of the T. turgidum var. durum plasma membrane Naþ/Hþ antiporter
TdSOS1 gene has been shown to improve salt tolerance in the hypersensitive Arabidopsis thaliana sos1-1 genotype as shown by
seed germination and seedling growth trials (Feki et al., 2014; Ji et al., 2013).
Introgression of the rice flash flood tolerance gene Sub1A into commercial indica rice lines by marker-assisted selection has
produced yield gains of 1.0–3.0 tonnes ha1 in India and the Philippines (Dar et al., 2014; IRRI, 2015). Unfortunately, the advantages conveyed by Sub1A are only effective for up to 15 days submergence in up to 20 cm of floodwater. Efforts to improve the stagnant flood and submergence tolerance of elite rice genotypes are ongoing. The Saltol trait identified in rice is thought to be an
important contributor to genetic variation in ion uptake in saline conditions (Deinlein et al., 2014) and may prove useful in
marker-aided selection of salt- and submergence-tolerant rice varieties (Ashraf and Foolda, 2013). The International Rice Research
Institute, for example, has developed more than 100 salinity-tolerant elite rice lines currently being screened for use in India, Bangladesh, and West Africa (IRRI, 2015). Natural variation in the soybean (Glycine max, Figure 6) chromosome 3 GmSALT3 locus
modulates salinity tolerance between commercial cultivars (Guan et al., 2014). In the salt-tolerant Tiefeng 8 cultivar GmSALT3,
cation/Hþ exchanger protein is preferentially expressed in phloem- and xylem-associated root cells, reducing Naþ ion accumulation.
In the salt-sensitive cultivar 85-140, however, this gene is interrupted, leading to increased salt sensitivity. The salt-tolerant
GmSALT3 variant, known as haplotype H1, is found extensively in salt-tolerant genotypes and has breeding potential for improving
soybean varieties in saline conditions.
Emergent Technologies for Regulating Gene Expression in Food Crops
Among the areas where new technology is likely to influence the use and growth of food crops in response to climate change, three
approaches stand out (see Table 4).
Gene silencing is a means of downregulating (or ‘turning off’) particular genes by overexpression of RNA sequences, known as
RNAi, preventing functional expression of a gene. Although already available for several years, it is now increasingly seen as a tool
for turning off particular genes, as in the bruising-resistant ArcticÒ apples (Waltz, 2015) and bruising and black spot–resistant
InnateÒ potatoes deregulated and considered safe for consumption by the United States Food and Drug Administration
(Bettenhausen, 2013; USFDA, 2015). This RNAi technology can be applied using DNA from sexually compatible wild relatives
Figure 6
Soybean, Glycine max. Source: USDA Photo Services.
Green Biotechnology for Food Security in Climate Change
Table 4
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Novel biotechnological approaches for altering gene expression in food crops
Approach
Gene silencing
Gene editing
RNA spraying
Opportunity
References
®
®
Nonbrowning Arctic apples, Innate bruising-resistant
potatoes by RNA interference (RNAi)
CRISPR-Cas9
Transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENS)
in rice
BioDirect® RNA interference applications
Bettenhausen (2013), Ricroch and Hénard-Damave
(2015), and USFDA (2015)
Shan et al. (2014)
Li et al. (2014)
Regalado (2015)
of crop plants, as in InnateÒ potatoes, which should make gaining regulatory acceptance easier. Future food security applications
may include turning off receptors to pathogen attack or stress response components, which could be of considerable value in
climate change.
Gene editing is a means of making precision, directed changes in genomes at as fine a scale level as one, or a few nucleotides
(Ledford, 2015a). Two alternative systems currently provide state-of-the-art protocols for achieving these small-scale genomic
changes, using clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and the CAS9 nuclease, or alternatively, transcriptional activator-like effector nucleases (TALENS). Precise genomic modification using CRISPR has been likened to a ‘find and
replace’ function (The Economist, 2015). CRISPR is effective in a range of food crop species, including rice (Xu et al., 2014), maize
(Xang et al., 2014), and wheat (Shan et al., 2014), and provides an inexpensive toolkit approach for any genome (Xang et al., 2014).
CRISPR has already been used to produce herbicide-resistant canola (oil seed rape) in Canada. Using CRISPR in agriculture will not
require regulation in many countries, although the European Union has not yet formed a consolidated position on CRISPR.
TALENS uses an alternative nuclease system to precision edit genomes, based on fusions of transcription activator-like effectors
with target DNA-binding domains and an endonuclease cleavage domain (Li et al., 2014). Just like CRISPR/CAS9, varying
DNA-binding domain sequences allow different genomic targets to be addressed. The TALENS system has been effective in rice
and in conferring powdery mildew resistance to wheat (Wang et al., 2014). Although some concerns relating to controlling the
spread of CRISR-edited sequences throughout wild populations have been expressed (Camacho et al., 2014; Ledford, 2015b),
precision editing of genomes will become widely used in agriculture. Targets relevant to food security in climate change include
modulating stomatal closure, ion transporters, stress receptors, and components of signal transduction in environmental stress
responses (Hu and Xiong, 2014).
RNA spraying technology topically applies specific synthetic RNA to the surfaces, e.g., leaves of plants to control plant responses
or stimulate pathogen resistance. Several agricultural biotechnology companies are believed to be investigating RNA spraying technology, including BioDirectÒ insect and virus control, developed by Monsanto, to combat Colorado potato beetle and tospovirus
outbreaks (Regalado, 2015). RNA spraying removes the need to use genetic modification in such applications, as no change to the
plant genome takes place. Instead, take-up of the sprayed synthetic RNA by plant cells takes place, silencing particular genes temporarily, until the effect wears off, typically from a few days to 3 months. Difficulties include developing efficient ways to penetrate
plant cells and identifying suitable gene sequences to use. Whether spraying should always be done after stressing, either biotic
such as pathogen attack, or abiotic, such as salt or drought stress occurs, or can be done preemptively is not yet clear. The specificity
of the gene silencing effect is likely to make this approach highly valuable and cost-effective in the future. Recent advances in
large-scale RNA synthesis mean that field spraying consumable costs of as little as $5/acre may be achievable (Regalado, 2015).
Since climate change means that crop hosts are likely to face new pathogen threats, or more widely distributed pathogens, using
RNA sprays to prevent attacks, limit losses, or combat weed spread will contribute to food security through maintaining yields
or preventing postharvest losses (Shaner and Beckie, 2014). As global temperatures rise, this may lead to a wider spread of pathogens such as the citrus greening Candidatus liberibacter in fruit trees, causing the loss of millions of citrus fruit trees each year. Spraying
RNA only when needed could be more cost-effective and less environmentally damaging than current intensive chemical control of
the Asian citrus psyllid vector (Robinson et al., 2014).
Attitudes, Needs, and the Future
Green biotechnology tools are and will continue to make positive contributions to enhancing food security during climate
change, alongside a range of other means to ensure food availability, access to food for all, efficient utilization of food resources,
and a stable global food commodity trading system. The extent to which green biotechnology will help to achieve this is dependent on several factors, including the rate of technological development, governmental and public acceptance of novel biotechnologies, and the costs of climate change effected food crops to consumers. For the increasing numbers of undernourished
people, as the global population grows toward 9.6 billion by 2050 (Federoff, 2015), particularly in the developing nations,
choices about how a food crop has been produced are likely to be an unaffordable luxury. Producing enough food to meet
the needs of the growing world population, reducing pre- and postharvest losses, and enhancing access to food for all must surely
be a laudable aim for mankind.
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Green Biotechnology for Food Security in Climate Change
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