With a global track record of general progression; access to clean water, increased social rights, technological growth; over the past few centuries, it can be easy to see the world through a lens of inevitable advancement. However, change, whether it be positive or negative, is not inevitable. It is not inevitable that people will make new phone models, make new medicines, or solve world hunger. These things happen because people make them happen. Assuming this perspective can blind people to pressing issues, which are sometimes getting worse, not better.

In 2022, 122 million more people worldwide were chronically undernourished than in 2019, according to the United Nations. It cannot be expected for progress to be made in this regard, but it is important to remember that it can. With more people aware of issues like these and working against them, more people will be fed. The work being done to address food insecurity should be celebrated, because it is not inevitable.

Agricultural biotechnology has the potential to tackle food insecurity, as gene-edited crops can produce higher yields, resist blight, and contain higher nutritional contents. However, only 10% of small farm owners in developing countries have access to the new seeds invented through biotechnology. These scientific advancements hold immense potential and can be made in so many directions, but they are useless if they are never applied. That’s why the Institute for International Crop Improvement (IICI) is determined to push scientific breakthroughs in crop improvement past academic journals and onto people’s plates.

The IICI focuses on staple crops, especially in Africa, where 20% of people face hunger. Cowpea, which is better known in the US for its black-eyed-pea cultivar, can endure sandy soils with little water, making it a prime candidate. However, cowpeas are vulnerable to pod-borer infestations, which can wipe out up to 80% of affected harvests. Despite applying pesticides 6-10 times before each harvest, Nigeria has been strongly affected by these infestations, importing over 40% of their cowpea from other countries. In response, pod borer-resistant (PBR) cowpeas started field trials in the country in 2009, estimated to improve yields by 20-80%. The IICI led efforts to gain approval for the PBR cowpea from the National Biosafety Management Agency in Nigeria, and it was approved for commercial growth in 2021. 

In addition to progress on cowpea, the IICI has led efforts to improve teff, a nutrient-rich grain essential to Ethiopians’ diets. Teff production has grown in the western US as a gluten-free alternative, but also noted for its high levels of protein and fiber, along with mineral content. Teff alone is estimated to provide two thirds of Ethiopia’s protein and dietary fiber. However, teff has not been optimized by humans like other crops such as rice, and its tall growth makes it susceptible to lodging (falling over), which costs farmers up to 25% of their yields. To minimize the losses from lodging, the IICI is working with the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research to create shorter teff lines. In 2023, the USDA granted genome-edited semi-dwarf teff pre-market regulatory approval, and the edited lines are being grown at the Danforth Center’s field research site for further study.

The IICI is also involved in the virus resistant cassava for Africa (VIRCA) project, working to make cassava resistant to the many diseases that plague it. Through VIRCA, cassava was genetically modified for resistance to cassava brown streak disease, and through VIRCA Plus, that trait is being bred with varieties with resistance to cassava mosaic disease. Field trials of these lines are being done in Kenya and Uganda to ensure that other qualities such as yield and quality are not impaired. In addition, VIRCA Plus is working to enrich cassava with essential nutrients such as iron and zinc, which are critically low in many Africans’ diets. 

The research and advocacy done by the IICI is taking monumental strides to use humans’ knowledge of biology to address malnutrition at a time where biotechnology is growing exponentially. From the discovery of cells  less than 200 years ago, this progress is a key part of history in the use of science to improve food for the world. This change is not inevitable, and it promises greater access to food with higher nutrient content for countless lives. 

I talked about GM cowpea in the introduction/literature review I wrote for a paper I contributed to, but as we’re working towards publication, I haven’t posted it on the website. Also, most of my contributions have been changed or scrapped in the final manuscript, including most of my cowpea conversation. Perhaps I’ll make a separate post with my original introduction once the paper is published, so you can see what I actually contributed to the paper, as it was a product of many people. 

I wanted to write about IICI because it is the exact kind of research I’m interested in doing in the future, and they share a lab space with the Taylor lab, so I was curious to learn more about their projects. I went on a bit of a tangent here about change and how it only happens because people make it happen, which I could argue about any of the progress I’ve covered through this website, but it really resonates with me here. I view the world through such a progressive lens; in history class, we learned of all the way we have advanced over centuries in almost every direction, and it just seems like something that happens. However, seeing the actual people that are actually working towards this progress reminds me that, had they chosen a different path, these incredible advancements might not be underway. Of course, there are other people that might otherwise contribute to these missions, but it’s not inevitable. The state of policy in the US reminds me that history is not a straight line to a “better,” or at least more advanced world, though I do believe it will head there eventually.

Thank you for reading, and stay tuned to learn with me!

Research Institutes – ICII

Research Institutes – ICII

Institute for International Crop Improvement: Early Promise, Long Journey Ahead 

Institute for International Crop Improvement: Early Promise, Long Journey Ahead