4.12.08

can cassava save Africa?

I got my latest Nature News alert email, and this week, there's a very interesting piece on crop researchers out to tackle the food crisis. Of particular interest is the work done by Richard Sayre, who's the Director of the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Institute for Renewable Fuels at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St Louis, Missouri.

Sayre is heading a consortium of researchers aiming to enrich cassava, which is a staple food consumed by over 250 million sub-Saharan Africans. Although it grows relatively well in bad soil, it tends to be low in nutritional content. It makes an interesting case for the potential of genetically modified crops. Thoughts?

No comments: