The Royal Institution Christmas Lectures
Dangerous to Delicious
2009 • E4 Dec 24, 2009 40m
Lunch anyone?
Human agriculture has usually tried to disarm plant defences and increase plant nutrient content. Our domestic varieties of wheat and cabbage now look, and taste, very different to their wild relatives. White carrots anyone? We cook, cure, freeze and otherwise process plants until they become edible and more nutritious. We grow them to epic proportions. And now, using the latest scientific research, we have the opportunity to grow them more efficiently and perhaps more healthily using genetic modification.
Human agriculture has usually tried to disarm plant defences and increase plant nutrient content. Our domestic varieties of wheat and cabbage now look, and taste, very different to their wild relatives. White carrots anyone? We cook, cure, freeze and otherwise process plants until they become edible and more nutritious. We grow them to epic proportions. And now, using the latest scientific research, we have the opportunity to grow them more efficiently and perhaps more healthily using genetic modification.