With genetically modified organisms (GMOs), there’s no putting the genie back in the bottle. Since their commercial introduction in 1996, bioengineered crops have become a commercial juggernaut, utterly dominating the marketplace in the U.S. and around the world. Even the European Union—long a hotbed of anti-GMO sentiment and regulatory activity—is warming to biotech, and significantly expanding the number of GMO crops accepted for import.
Now, as the technology is maturing and costs have decreased significantly, a new wave of biotech innovation—call it GMO 2.0—is in the offing. Emerging startups and established companies alike are using breakthrough technologies to drive GMOs in exciting new directions. A diverse range of new technologies promise to make agriculture more efficient and sustainable, and our food tastier and more nutritious. It also promises to help address the pressing but unanswered question of how to produce the 56% additional calories needed to feed the 10 billion people expected to populate the world in 2050, with little land left to expand cultivation and a changing climate making agriculture more challenging.
Not everyone is thrilled about the new wave of bioengineered crops. Like it or not, though, GMO 2.0 is going to see an adoption curve that will rival that of first-gen biotech seeds. The potential benefits—nutritional, environmental, and above all, agronomical—will simply be too great to ignore.
Avoid missteps
Before we get to that point, however, we have a window of opportunity to shape the course of GMO 2.0—and avoid some of the missteps that marked the rollout of first-gen biotech crops. The core technologies behind GMO 1.0 were safe, effective, and heavily regulated—but too many breakthrough products were controlled by a few large corporations that were eager to muscle rivals aside, shout down skeptics, and amass huge profits while ignoring any potential harm caused by their products.
The rise of GMO 2.0 offers us a chance to hit the reset button and ensure that the next wave of biotechnologies is developed and commercialized more transparently, more responsibly, and more equitably. If we get this right, we can make a powerful positive case for the biotech revolution—reducing the potential for a backlash, and ensuring that consumers, regulators, and other stakeholders around the world benefit from the enormous potential of GMO 2.0 crops.
The 5 principles of GMO 2.0
To achieve that goal, we need to start by recognizing that GMO 2.0 isn’t fundamentally a technological breakthrough. Yes, new technologies—and the maturation of existing technologies—are making bioengineering far more accessible, and dramatically expanding and accelerating our ability to innovate. But GMO 2.0 is defined, at its core, by a shift in the values and priorities that guide us as we bring bioengineered products to market.
That breaks down to five key principles:
Safety: I don’t want to overstate this. The reality, after all, is that the science around whether GMOs are safe for humans is conclusively settled with broad scientific consensus. Still, next-gen innovators need to do a much better job of communicating around biotech safety, forthrightly engaging with consumers and regulators, and finding ways to win over skeptics instead of ignoring or silencing them. That means making a positive case for our technologies, frankly acknowledging any shortcomings, and clearly explaining how we’ll mitigate or manage potential risks.
Transparency: GMO 2.0 advocates must seek transparency in three key areas. First, we need to explain our technology and make sure everyone understands what we’re doing and how it works. Second, we need to explain our purpose and show how bioengineering can unlock desirable traits that deliver results across the value chain. And third, we need to explain our potential impact and show how GMO 2.0 will drive resilience, growth, and improve food quality for everyone.
Efficiency: To ensure that GMO 2.0 technologies meet the actual needs and wants of customers, we need efficient markets. In agriculture, that means empowering farmers and consumers to choose the traits they want in their crops and their food. First-gen biotech was largely a top-down process dictated by Big Ag, but GMO 2.0 will be powered by end users, with a host of startups, academics, and innovators using agile technologies to respond to changing demand and rapidly bring new crops and new traits to market.
Deconsolidation/choice: Most GMO 1.0 products offered one-size-fits-all solutions, consolidating multiple traits into a single seed. In the GMO 2.0 era, farmers will be able to pick and choose from many different seeds, each with different traits and capabilities—or opt-out altogether—to optimize for their own unique needs. This matters at the ecosystem level all the way to the consumer. Instead of trying to dominate the marketplace, GMO 2.0 leaders will embrace transparency, build partnerships, and create solutions that dovetail with and support one another in additive ways.
Optimism: To usher in a new era of GMO 2.0 technologies, we need to stop being apologetic or mealy-mouthed about what we’re trying to achieve. Climate change is real, and hunger never went away—instead of waiting for disaster to strike, we’re building technologies that will safeguard the future. It’s time to embrace the scale of our ambition and explain how important biotech will be in the years to come.
Some next-wave biotech products—like purple tomatoes that contain extra antioxidants and taste great in a salad—are designed to appeal to consumers. Others are important on a global scale: drought-tolerant wheat could help secure food supplies in an era of global heating, while non-browning avocados have the potential to reduce food waste by extending shelf life and enhancing flavor and texture for consumers.
By hitting the reset button now, and clearly explaining how GMO 2.0 differs from earlier iterations of biotech crops, we have a chance to redefine how farmers, regulators, and consumers think about biotechnology. Now it’s time to communicate that effectively and build a vibrant and equitable biotech marketplace where GMO 2.0 technologies can showcase their value—and deliver the benefits we need for farmers, consumers, and society as a whole.
Shely Aronov is cofounder and CEO of InnerPlant.
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