Population Growth and Climate Change Will Make It Harder to Feed the World. We Need to Overcome Our Fears of Genetically Modif

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Population growth and climate change will make it harder to feed the world. We need to overcome our fears of genetically modiﬁed food.

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nothing answered until we sprayed advances in molecular biology, and with Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), new genome engineering tools allow a bacterium commonly used as a geneticists to edit plant DNA, making pesticide in organic farming. We changes exactly where they want bought fertilizers with ish emulsions, on chromosomes in order to create which did better than the farm’s desirable traits. The new technologies own manure and compost. Raising are far more sophisticated than the birds, we began by feeding them transgenic techniques used in the irst unadulterated cracked corn, but they genetically modiied crops, where genes didn’t grow large enough for sale, from one species were transferred into and soon we were driving to Santa another, as the Bt genes expressing a Rosa Feed and Game every month toxin poisonous to bugs were inserted to purchase organically certiied bird into corn and soybeans. With luck, feed, whose supplemental ingredients we may be able to increase yields (including vitamins and a range of suiciently to feed the nine billion proteins and amino acids), when listed people who will be alive in 2050 and on the sides of the sacks, were longer design crops that can tolerate heat, i grew up on a farm on the north than a small boy’s hand. drought, and new patterns of plant Coast of California in the 1970s. It Outside the very poor world, all disease. had been a sort of commune, and after farming is like this: it is industrial. But we’ll need to accept genetically my parents bought the property, the That’s because even organic farmers are modiied foods. Today, most GM corn hippies stayed on as farm workers frightened of the blights and diseases and soybeans feed animals or go into and the place retained the style of the that can destroy a harvest or covey, and biofuels. No genetically modiied counterculture. Stewart Brand’s Whole they think about nothing more than varieties of rice, wheat, or potatoes are Earth Catalog, with its tools and ideas increasing the yield from their land. widely grown, although we will need for the back-to-the-land movement, As David Rotman, the editor of MIT these crops to feed the world. But while was the farm’s almanac. Technology Review, argues in “Why scientists now understand how to afect My father, who worked in San We Will Need Genetically Modiied traits in plants, only large companies Francisco, had intended the farm to Foods” (page 28), the concerns of can aford the expense of developing be a weekend retreat, like an English farmers are becoming more acute. GMOs, and such corporations have country home; but my mother wanted The Green Revolution increased crop shied away from genetically modifying to live there and grow things. We yields by introducing more productive wheat, rice, potatoes, and vegetables raised free-range game birds for the crop varieties. “But for at least the because they fear that consumers will restaurants of San Francisco. There past decade, increases … seem to have reject the results. were three vegetable gardens and slowed. Yields of wheat, for example, But perhaps the new order of an orchard. Everything was sternly are growing at roughly 1 percent GMOs, where plant geneticists organic. annually; they need to increase nearly accelerate the traditional work of Except of course it wasn’t. By 2 percent annually to keep up with plant breeders, will seem less freakish even the mid-’70s what was called food demand over the long term. to consumers than transgenic crops “organic” was conditional: if you met Agricultural experts warn that yields do now. Perhaps, too, the new crops various standards set by an industry’s will have to improve for other crops will seem greener: high-yield, disease- marketing association, then you as well if we are to feed a rapidly resistant, hardy GMOs will allow were an organic farmer, although growing population—and yet rising farmers to use pesticides and fertilizers those standards were far from the temperatures and other efects of global less, which is truer to the organic natural methods the founders of climate change will make this tougher ideal. Back in the 1970s, if my mother organic farming had imagined. In to achieve.” and I could have chosen not to bathe the vegetable gardens, we tried using Fortunately, Rotman explains, our vegetables with biochemicals, we

other insects for pest control, but recent genomic breakthroughs, would have done so. VITTIGUIDO

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Front BigDog, the size of a Back St. Bernard, likes to run 2 From the Editor just about anywhere. BUSINESS REPORT p38 8 Feedback 61 Beyond the Checkout Cart The distinction between online VIEWS and o ine retail is blurring. 10 Brainy Chips Want a smarter smartphone? REVIEWS Ask a biologist. 72 Too Much Information 10 Among Us Improvements in prenatal A safer robot is a better robot. genetic screening will put some parents in ethical binds. 12 Good Crops By Amanda Scha er GMOs will ultimately ease humanitarian crises. 77 Facebook’s Two Faces The company talks big about UPFRONT wiring the world. So far it’s mostly talk. 15 Computers Read Your Face By David Talbot They can know what you’re feeling. Will that be useful? 82 The Geopolitics of Geoengineering 18 Fracking Meets Geothermal A technological fi x could help What works for natural gas solve global warming, but could work for heat power too. will e orts to deploy it spur international confl ict? 19 Captcha-Busting Software By Eli Kintisch A challenge for that test that tells you from a bot. DEMO 20 Twitter Goes Global Microblogging conquers the January/February 2014 84 Printing Batteries world, language by language. New tools could get lithiumion 28 | Why We’ll Need Genetically Modifi ed Foods technology into novel places. 21 Biomanufacturing’s Twist By Mike Orcutt The technology has always Climate change makes feeding the world harder. required living cells, until now. Biotech crops could help. By David Rotman YEARS AGO 22 Fitness-Tracking Foibles A test of three new wristbands 38 | The Robots Running This Way 88 Selling Privacy Short suggests they’re not yet fi t. Robots that move like living creatures are now headed We’ve been trading our privacy for convenience for decades. 24 The iPad’s Secret for the world’s toughest terrain. By Will Knight A new breed of high performance screens is here. 46 | The Continuous Productivity of Aaron Levie Plus: To Market The CEO of the online fi lesharing service Box wants to reshape entire industries. By Ted Greenwald Q&A 52 | Thinking in Silicon 26 Danah Boyd ON THE COVER: Dear parents: Please stop Microchips modeled on the brain may excel at tasks Illustration by Justin Metz fretting about social media. that ba e today’s computers. By Tom Simonite for MIT Technology Review

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1 2 3 4 5 The Decline The Real A Tale of Two Drugs Driverless Cars So Far, Smart

of Wikipedia Privacy Problem Unlike MDs, who under- Are Further Away Watches Are So often people say I would not allow my per- stand the inevitability of Than You Think Pretty Dumb death, most patients opt things like “Companies sonal belongings to be The author has a test drive Smart watches seem like for any and all medical are moving away from rummaged through and with BMW and Mercedes- prime Apple territory—an interventions. Since the the traditional hierarchi- analyzed in order to dis- Benz and comes away existing technology that no cost is borne by future cal structures and toward cover what I might be singing their praises and one else is doing right and taxpayers, and since their open collaboration,” yet missing in my life. Likewise, writing off Google. Yet that needs a heavy dose of doctors pad their incomes when it actually happens I do not want anybody Google has logged thou- design and simplifi cation. no matter what the out- in a big and obvious way, or anything rummaging sands of incident-free —ctbowers come, their bias toward people are close to panic. I through my digital life in miles, while BMW’s proto- treatment, however futile I’d like to have a few simple think some people actually order to serve me a “bet- type may or may not have and shortsighted, is logical. ways to control the watch prefer having somebody ter” ad. —KennethJ braked to avoid a collision. —wcordell2 without having to touch clearly in charge. And the reason Google is I watch—in a combination —MaxGain it; for instance, I’d like to The cost of developing a written off ? Because the of disgust, awe, and befud- control my music while drug through FDA approval lidar is ugly. —tuariki1 There is no other website dlement—as my friends, working out on a rowing for sale is $1.2 billion. With as sanctimoniously fake as colleagues, and even It seems inevitable that machine. One idea would such an enormous, risky Wikipedia. The site is not “elders” commodify and fully autonomous vehicles be to have sensors that cost up front, is there any an exemplar of democratic publicly detail their every will be introduced in some could identify the move- question why drugs are principles. Quite the oppo- breath and step. Many are part of the world, and once ments of each fi nger, and so expensive, especially site. It has one of the most in complete ignorance that they’re on the road some- let you program what each drugs which will have thou- bizarre arbitrary authoritar- their lives are being algo- where, the benefi ts will be of those movements con- sands, and not millions, of ian bureaucracies I’ve ever rithmized. —mena_nut impossible to deny. trols. That’s a watch I’d like patient-purchasers? seen. —Decimizer —CBDunkerson to have. —jdrulon —R Sweeney