| Ancient Wheat Rust Back in the Saddle |
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| Written by Heather McKee | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Saturday, 05 April 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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We’re already dealing with a worldwide wheat shortage thanks to biofuel demands for corn crops. So it’s definitely not good news that an ancient wheat rust – a mush-inducing strain called Ug99 - has mutated its way past the rust-resistant, currently popular strains of wheat. In 1954, stem rusts wiped out over 40% of U.S. wheat crops. During the Cold War, the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. both held reserves of the fungus as a potential biological weapon. Rusts have plagued the crops of humans as far back as the Romans, who scrambled to keep the wheat rust god, Robigus, placated. Twenty-eight years ago, Norman Borlaug (also known as the father of the so-called “Green Revolution”) won the Nobel Peace Prize for developing a strain of wheat resistant to stem rusts. Although Borlaug's strain was not genetically engineered, the new focus on disease resistance and high yields held the door open for biotech food. Genetically modified corn with bacterial genes poisonous to pesky caterpillars! Genetically modified soybeans that could stand herbicide baths! The sky was the limit. And I suppose if nothing ever evolved, transgenic crops might have worked. But it was only a matter of time before the world's new addiction to a handful of varieties of superseeds pushed pests to evolve. Envirovore told you about the bollworms that were gradually overcoming the “genetic supremacy” of biotech corn and cotton crops. The fate of wheat supplies teeters on the spread of this new strain of an ancient fungus.
Our current industrialized agriculture system uses only a few different strains of seeds in massive monocropping operations - which puts our food supplies in a very vulnerable position in the face of an outbreak.
Farmers and genetic engineers have little choice at this point but to maintain the pissing contest with Mother Nature, and are scrambling to plant enough of a new wheat crop, relying upon a different genetic complex for resistance to Ug99, to have enough seeds for crops next year.
In our hubris of taking over the reins of natural selection in the manipulation of our seeds, we have entered all of humanity in potentially disastrous race. Envirovore is curious - who do you have your money on – Monsanto or Mother Nature?
Via New Scientist
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It's true what our moms said...we are what we eat. In fact, it's truer than they thought. What I eat doesn't just affect me anymore, it affects all of us.
Unfortunately, the story of food can sometimes be complicated. But envirovores help each other out...which is why this blog will be bringing you news, tips, and information about food and the environment every step of the way.
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