Abundance: The Future is Better Than You Think

by Peter H. Diamandis

This is a present-tense progress report. The agricultural portion of the biotech industry is growing at 10 percent a year; the technology itself, on a faster curve. In 2000, when the first plant genome was sequenced, it took seven years, $70 million, and five hundred people. The same project today takes about three minutes and costs about $100. This is good news. More information means better targeted approaches. Right now we’re enjoying first generation GE crops; soon we’ll have versions that can grow in drought conditions, in saline conditions, crops that are nutritionally fortified, that act as medicines, that increase yields and lower the use for pesticides, herbicides, and fossil fuels. The best designs will do many of these things at once. The Gates Foundation–led effort BioCassava Plus aims to take cassava, one of the world’s largest staple crops, fortify it with protein, vitamins A and E, iron, and zinc; lower its natural cyanide content, make it virus resistant, and storable for two weeks (instead of one day). By 2020, this one genetically modified crop could radically improve the health of the 250 million people for whom it is a daily meal.