The genetic revolution can support food security, tackle the climate crisis & protect biodiversity | FAO News

Des Moines, Iowa – Breakthroughs in genetic science have brought the world to “the dawn of a new era” & can propel solutions to a spectrum of inter-related global challenges including assuring food security, tackling the climate crisis & protecting biodiversity, QU Dongyu, Director-General of the Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAOI), said today at the Borlaug International Dialogue of the World Food Prize 2024 opening ceremony.

“The genetic revolution goes beyond increasing yields,” Qu said, noting how today it can be applied in tailored ways to improve plant & animal resistance to pests, diseases & environmental stressors including high temperatures, droughts, floods, soil salinity & more.

These advancements could also “bring people & cultures closer together,” he added in his keynote speech, From Genetics to the Generation: What Does the Future Hold for Agrifood Systems & Food Culture.

The annual prize, in honor of Norman Borlaug, considered one of the fathers of the Green Revolution that lifted hundreds of millions of people out of hunger thanks to his work on higher-yielding wheat varieties, was awarded this year to Geoffrey Hawtin & Cary Fowler, in recognition of their extraordinary contribution in preserving & protecting the world’s heritage of crop biodiversity, especially in operating & funding crop gene banks all over the planet.

Gene editing

Gene editing technology significantly accelerates breeding processes , acting faster than cross-breeding, mutation breeding & transgenesis methods, said the FAO Director-General, who studied plant breeding & genetics & made important contributions to understanding the potato genome.

Gene or genome editing is a term encompassing various molecular biology techniques. The advent of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats, known as CRISPR, spurred a rapid increase in gene editing research & applications. CRISPR is faster & less expensive than more conventional ways of crossbreeding, opening up new horizons for environmentally-adaptive & nutrition-sensitive crops & livestock that can protect genetic biodiversity & contribute to building resilient agrifood systems.

FAO’s Director-General emphasized that gene editing can be a boon to the preservation & enhancement of the unique traits of local & indigenous foods, keeping open a “window to our own humanity”, & become “a bridge between the past & the future, connecting food cultures & fostering shared resilience in the face of global challenges.”

For this reason, the FAO Food & Agriculture Museum & Network, to be launched in 2025 at FAO Headquarters in Rome to mark the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, will bridge global food technologies & cultures, showcasing the rich traditions & innovative approaches that have shaped the story of agrifood systems over time.

FAO’s experts have produced important contributions to the connections between gene editing & food safety & on agrifood systems more broadly.

Qu emphasized that the Science & Innovation Forum, one of the three pillars of the World Food Forum that FAO hosts each year at its headquarters in Rome, was set up precisely for Members & partners to discuss the benefits & risks of cutting-edge technologies.

It is crucial that the benefits be shared widely & equitably. It is also essential that Members invest in human & social capital needed to make optimal leverage of new technology, he added.

The new World Food Prize winners have a long history of engagement with FAO.

Geoffrey Hawtin, one of the awardees, played key roles in the negotiation of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food & Agriculture, which is hosted by FAO, as well as the creation of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.

Cary Fowler, currently the U.S. Special Envoy for Global Food Security, led the International Conference & Programme on Plant Genetic Resources at FAO in the 1990s & was the chief author of FAO’s Global Plan of Action for Plant Genetic Resources.

Along with Qu’s keynote address, the ceremony featured a panel discussion on achieving a hunger-free world in which Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group, & Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank, both participated.