The World in 2030

120 The World in 2030
only two modifications are grown commercially to any
extent: herbicide tolerance and insect resistance. 237
On the other hand, the temptations of future GM bounty,
especially the so-called ‘third generation’ geneticallymodified
‘pharma-crops’, will seem very hard to resist. As
SciDev.net explained in June 2007:
Growing pharmaceuticals and industrial products in
plants through genetic engineering presents an important
opportunity that Africa should grasp now.
Such crops include plants engineered to produce biodegradable
plastics, fibrous proteins, adhesives and
synthetic proteins. For example, tobacco and potato
plants have been engineered to produce spider silks.
‘Pharmacrops’ are plants genetically modified to
produce pharmaceuticals, for example vaccines, antibodies
and proteins to treat human or animal diseases.
Maize engineered to express human gastric lipase,
used to treat cystic fibrosis, is already in advanced
clinical trials. 238
What is unarguable, however, is that given the problem of
continuing deforestation, the world’s populations must be
educated to reduce the amount of meat in their diets. Meat
is about the least land-efficient and energy-efficient way of
transferring protein/energy from our environment into our
bodies (although the fastest method of energy ingestion at
the point of consumption). And a reduced meat diet would
improve the health of most citizens.