COMING SOON: Food products that contain higher levels of phytosterols for reduced cholesterol, crops with higher levels of carotenoids for increased vitamin A, potato loaded with antioxidants, low-linolenic soybean, and high-lysine corn. These may be farfetched but the possibilities are endless. Thanks to genetic engineering, the crops of the future will no longer be just dreams but realities. Already, the world has seen eggplant and corn that defy pests, vitamin A-rich rice, herbicide tolerant soybean, virus resistant papaya, and high laureate canola. They are called genetically modified (GM) crops, which are products of biotechnology, a "technique that makes use of organism (or parts of it) to make or modify products, to improve plants or animals, or to develop microorganisms for specific purposes." GM crops are made through a process called genetic engineering. Dr. Antonio Alfonso, a plant breeder at the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) and the Crops Biotechnology Center director said genetic engineering is employed because of the following reasons: the trait is not present in the germplasm of the plant; the trait is very difficult to incorporate using conventional breeding methods; and it would take a very long time to introduce and/or improve such trait in the crop … Continue reading →