Currently the technology has been helping farmers to ward off pests, control weeds, and prevent rot, but now scientists are aiming to make drugs more affordable, medicines easier to dispense, and food more nutritious. In the end, the benefits will be overwhelmingly apparent. Proponents of genetic engineering say this technology may be mankind's best hope for feeding a population expected to top 9 billion by 2050. Human societies have been tinkering with Mother Nature since the beginnings of agriculture, selectively breeding and cross-breeding over many generations to produce crops with more desirable traits. CropTech is borrowing genetic material from humans and then inserting it into tobacco plants.
Tobacco secretes a protein when the plant is chopped or shredded.
That behavior is a tobacco plant's way to defend itself against a chomping insect. But because of CropTech's tinkering, the plant releases a protein that can be used to make drugs to prevent blood clots or fight ovarian or breast cancer.