Plant Breakthrough Could Boost Global Food Production

The quest for a new Green Revolution to increase the world’s food output may gain ground with a new technique for engineering plants that are resistant to aluminum. The naturally occurring metal is toxic to many crops, making 40 percent to 50 percent of the earth’s soil non-arable. Now, researchers at the University of California, Riverside, have found that modifying a single gene makes plants able to thrive in aluminum-laced soil. If the method works on an agricultural scale, it could make vast amounts of land available for farmers to feed the world’s booming population. Study coauthor Paul Larsen, who hopes to make the technique available in the developing world, warns against clearing rain forests to use the method on currently nonproductive land. Addressing concerns about genetically altered crops, Larsen said he believes his modification can be done safely. A Cornell University scientist not involved in the study noted that farmers may be able to use this breakthrough to breed aluminum-resistant plants without genetic engineering.