Monsanto Invests in Partnership with Pairwise Plants

In a follow up to another article done on genetic editing and CRISPR technology in modifying food products, Monsanto made an investment on Wednesday that made headlines.

The agricultural products giant, Monsanto, released a statement that it has made a $125 million investment in Pairwise Plants, a startup company specializing in genetic editing. Monsanto is banking on the technology, especially the method known as CRISPR, to produce fruit that lasts longer on store shelves and tastes sweeter.

The initial testing, according to published reports, in this Monsanto – Pairwise Plants venture will be on the strawberry. The process of genetic editing of food is different than that of genetically modifying (GMO) because it acts as one scientist explained, like a pair of “molecular scissors” which will cut out certain parts of the DNA strand to enhance other attributes.

The method allows for manipulation of the DNA of apples or strawberries, or soybeans to make them either taste better or stay fresh for a longer duration of time. The ethical implications are significant with many questioning whether science should be changing something that God created.

Furthermore, the boundaries of the gene-editing process are also in question in the context of what they could look to use the CRISPR method with in the future. The questions surrounding the use of the method on livestock to prolong or change the shelf life of meat or fish is a huge potential dilemma.

Some fine journalists have compiled some excellent content on the topic of gene-editing. I am more concerned with the implications this presents from the perspective of man playing God with our food supply.

The research shows that GMO is a dirty word, associated with all sorts of problems and issues. I have written several pieces on the GMO debate and the negative impact that genetic modification has had relative to certain health problems and disease states.

The process of genetic editing is one that Monsanto and the other agriculture products manufacturers are pinning their hopes on being more acceptable to the general public. They have pinned those hopes to the messaging around the process of genetic editing being more of a subtle procedure than the GMO scenario.

They also hope to confuse the customer with the science involved and talk about how the process is “more natural” than the GMO process. The whole situation is one of twisted logic. The core of the process still involves altering the way the fruit or vegetable is currently constituted.

The farmers and grocery industry will be whole heartedly behind this new process because it will yield them better profits. However, our society has to ask itself: at what expense?

This is also not the first strategic business move that Monsanto has made with regard to genetic editing, about a week ago they entered into an agreement with a firm called TargetGene to explore what are known as multiple gene edits. They also plan to use this partnership to expand the gene editing process into more potential product categories.

The fact that this activity has gone mostly unnoticed by the public and mostly unchecked by the federal government is also an issue which compelled me to put this piece out. The process changes the genomes of certain crops in our food supply. The results of which have potentially serious consequences.

The proponents will point to the assumption that genetic editing will reduce the amount of GMO seeds being produced (see my previous post to this one) especially in the case of certain crops. The detractors will bring up that the seeds and the process of CRISPR will not happen overnight and may not have that widespread impact on the GMO seed issue.

In a world where autoimmune disease rates are increasingly on the rise as are rates of autism and Parkinson’s disease all being linked to the food we eat, we do not need any more altered food products.

The potential for Monsanto to merge with Bayer to become an even larger entity could provide even further potential investment into genetic editing. The potential for use of genome editing in animals and in humans also hangs in the balance.

The question remains: should scientists have the ability to play God? Should this process be used in human embryos to alter what God created?

My answer to both of those questions is a resounding: No.
It is my hope and prayer that your answer is the same.

The Next Battleground: Gene-Editing & Food Products

The vigorous pushback that GMO (genetically modified) or genetically engineered ingredients in our food supply have received is a topic that I have covered here on Frank’s Forum as well as for other news websites for about four years.

My position regarding this issue is well documented as being against the use of genetically modified organisms or genetically engineered ingredients in our food. I have also detailed the problems inherently built into our food supply chain with genetically modified seeds. This scenario has fostered conditions where it is very difficult in the agricultural realities of today to avoid GMOs or genetic engineering in certain staple crops: corn, soybean, wheat, and sugar beet.

In those cases, I am a staunch proponent of the need for clear labeling practices for food production companies to notify the consumer of whether or not the item in question is made with genetically modified/engineered ingredients. I believe in the movement and the slogan fostered by another group, we have “a right to know if it is GMO”.

I was researching a set of different resources last week in the library for a GMO related piece, and I stumbled upon some research on genetic editing, or gene-editing, used in crops. This particular data set was on a study using genetic editing in corn for commercial use and not for human consumption.

The process of gene-editing inserts desired traits into the genetic pathways of crops and livestock. This trend is alarming to some, and intriguing to others; it certainly presents an ethical set of questions.
The intent, according to some published reports, is for gene-editing to be used in the human food supply in the future. The large corporate players in the industry have already made statements to the media indicating that their expectation is for gene-editing to be integrated into food production.

This raises some very important ethical questions about the alteration of the DNA of food which is grown in the earth. It raises serious questions about the line of division between man and God.

The process of genetic editing in food is also generating a new oracle within certain circles as “GMO 2.0” ; an inference to this scientific method being simply a continuation or new version of GMO ingredients in food. The use of the CRISPR method allows large chemical companies such as Dow/DuPont the capability to splice the genetic makeup of the food source.

The agricultural science and seed suppliers have become increasingly enmeshed over the course of the last two to three years due to mergers and acquisitions activity. The repercussions of that activity translate to molding scientific advances into what could be marketed to generate profits. This is a dangerous trend particularly when it is connected to the food supply.

These same agricultural/chemical giants: Dow/DuPont, Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayer, and others are “softening the ground” (all irony aside) with campaigns designed to almost condition the consumer to accept genetically edited products. They seek to avoid the public backlash that GMOs and products with genetically engineered ingredients have faced within the marketplace.

The key to that campaign objective is to position the genetic editing as more closely related to science and the scientific makeup of the crop or produce involved. The splice at the DNA level is going to be marketed as “more natural” than the process of GMO – which has an overwhelmingly negative public perception surrounding it.

This method of direct to consumer marketing is certainly nothing new, and is an increasingly common trend in marketing. The obstacles that face the agricultural titans mentioned earlier is that the public has access to so much information now than it did twenty or thirty years ago when the genetic engineering experiments began.

The other fact that is neglected in all of this, is that the process of CRISPR and genetic editing still modifies the DNA and the chemical structure of the crop in question. The process still alters what God created with something that mankind engineered. The questions will persist that if they are moving toward genetic editing to clone a “super crop” – where does it end?

The inevitable and controversial topic of cloning will take a renewed position within the national dialogue in America. The question of human cloning will be soon to follow. The debate will again be brought to the surface and the concept of genetic editing will have higher stakes than just the food supply.

In the end analysis, the responsibility shifts back to us to educate ourselves on the concept of genetic editing, and there are numerous sources of information on this subject. The central question will remain: should man be involved in the alteration of the DNA of something that was created long before we had any technology available? Should mankind use science to change what God created?

Those answers will not be concluded easily but those are the issues we will confront in the months ahead. The battle lines are drawn: which side wiil you be on?