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The fit between organic and pharma crops in North Carolina

Nature Biotechnology volume 25, pages 166–167 (2007)Cite this article

To the editor:

A news feature by Jeffrey Fox in the October issue (Nat. Biotechnol. 24, 1191–1193, 2006) highlights progress in molecular pharming (or farming), the practice of growing plant-made pharmaceuticals (PMPs) and industrial proteins (PMIPs) using genetically modified (GM) plants. In certain US states, molecular pharming is being touted as a solution to an ailing local agricultural sector. Indeed, some growers are drawn by a simple fallacy: if Monsanto's (St. Louis, MO, USA) Roundup Ready GM soybeans are a profitable product, then GM crops making PMPs or PMIPs must be as good or even better. But field-grown PMP or PMIP crops are not food products and provide no panacea for the ailing agricultural sector. By contrast, liability and steep capital outlay pose a steep barrier to entry for the average grower. I illustrate this below using North Carolina as a case in point.

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Acknowledgements

This work, sponsored by the USDA Biotechnology Risk Assessment Program, also received funding from the Kenan Institute for Ethics and the Institute for Genome, Science and Policy at Duke University.

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  1. Department of Biology, Box 90338, Duke University, Durham, 27708, North Carolina, USA

    Claire G. Williams

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  1. Claire G. Williams
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Williams, C. The fit between organic and pharma crops in North Carolina. Nat Biotechnol 25, 166–167 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0207-166

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