Editing Genetic engineering (section)

===Agriculture===

{{Main|Genetically modified crops|Genetically modified food}}

[[File:Bt plants.png|thumb|upright|Bt-toxins present in [[peanut]] leaves (bottom image) protect it from extensive damage caused by [[lesser cornstalk borer]] [[larva]]e (top image).<ref>{{cite web |last=Suszkiw |first=Jan | name-list-style = vanc |url=http://ars.usda.gov/is/ar/archive/nov99/pest1199.htm |title=Tifton, Georgia: A Peanut Pest Showdown |access-date=23 November 2008 |work= [[Agricultural Research Service|Agricultural Research]] |date=November 1999}}</ref>]]

One of the best-known and [[Genetically modified food controversies|controversial]] applications of genetic engineering is the creation and use of [[genetically modified crops]] or [[genetically modified livestock]] to produce [[genetically modified food]]. Crops have been developed to increase production, increase tolerance to [[abiotic stress]]es, alter the composition of the food, or to produce novel products.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Magaña-Gómez JA, de la Barca AM | title = Risk assessment of genetically modified crops for nutrition and health | journal = Nutrition Reviews | volume = 67 | issue = 1 | pages = 1–16 | date = January 2009 | pmid = 19146501 | doi = 10.1111/j.1753-4887.2008.00130.x | doi-access = free }}</ref>

The first crops to be released commercially on a large scale provided protection from insect pests or tolerance to [[herbicides]]. Fungal and virus resistant crops have also been developed or are in development.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.3329/ptcb.v16i2.1113 |title=Fungus Resistant Transgenic Plants: Strategies, Progress and Lessons Learnt |year=2008 |last1=Islam |first1=Aparna | name-list-style = vanc |journal=Plant Tissue Culture and Biotechnology |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=117–38|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Disease resistant crops|publisher=GMO Compass|url=http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/agri_biotechnology/breeding_aims/148.disease_resistant_crops.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100603215011/http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/agri_biotechnology/breeding_aims/148.disease_resistant_crops.html|archive-date=3 June 2010}}</ref> This makes the insect and weed management of crops easier and can indirectly increase crop yield.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1111/j.1744-7348.2004.tb00376.x |title=First impact of biotechnology in the EU: Bt maize adoption in Spain |year=2004 | vauthors = Demont M, Tollens E |journal=Annals of Applied Biology |volume=145 |issue=2 |pages=197–207}}</ref><ref name="Biodiversity">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/sustaininglifeho00eric|title=Sustaining Life |last1=Chivian|first1=Eric|last2=Bernstein|first2=Aaron | name-list-style = vanc |publisher=Oxford University Press, Inc|year=2008|isbn=978-0-19-517509-7 |url-access=registration}}<!--|access-date=12 September 2009 --></ref> GM crops that directly improve yield by accelerating growth or making the plant more hardy (by improving salt, cold or drought tolerance) are also under development.<ref name="Deborah B. Whitman 2000" /> In 2016 [[AquAdvantage salmon|Salmon]] have been genetically modified with growth hormones to reach normal adult size much faster.<ref name="Genetically Engineered Salmon">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/20/business/genetically-engineered-salmon-approved-for-consumption.html?_r=0|title=Genetically Engineered Salmon Approved for Consumption|date=19 November 2015|work=The New York Times|last1=Pollack|first1=Andrew| name-list-style = vanc |access-date=21 April 2016}}</ref>

GMOs have been developed that modify the quality of produce by increasing the nutritional value or providing more industrially useful qualities or quantities.<ref name="Deborah B. Whitman 2000">{{cite web|title=Genetically Modified Foods: Harmful or Helpful?|year=2000|first=Deborah B.|last=Whitman|name-list-style=vanc|url=http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/gmfood/overview.php|access-date=9 July 2010|archive-date=16 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150216145707/http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/gmfood/overview.php}}</ref> The [[Amflora]] potato produces a more industrially useful blend of starches. [[Genetically modified soybean|Soybeans]] and [[Genetically modified canola|canola]] have been genetically modified to produce more healthy oils.<ref>Rapeseed (canola) has been genetically engineered to modify its oil content with a gene encoding a "12:0 thioesterase" (TE) enzyme from the California bay plant ([[Umbellularia californica]]) to increase medium length fatty acids, see: [http://www.geo-pie.cornell.edu/traits/altoil.html Geo-pie.cornell.edu] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090705230132/http://www.geo-pie.cornell.edu/traits/altoil.html |date=5 July 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Bomgardner MM | year = 2012 | title = Replacing Trans Fat: New crops from Dow Chemical and DuPont target food makers looking for stable, heart-healthy oils | url = http://cen.acs.org/articles/90/i11/Replacing-Trans-Fat.html | journal = Chemical and Engineering News | volume = 90 | issue = 11| pages = 30–32 | doi = 10.1021/cen-09011-bus1 }}</ref> The first commercialised GM food was a [[Flavr Savr|tomato]] that had delayed ripening, increasing its [[shelf life]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Kramer|first1=Matthew G.|last2=Redenbaugh|first2=Keith| name-list-style = vanc |date=1994-01-01|title=Commercialization of a tomato with an antisense polygalacturonase gene: The FLAVR SAVR™ tomato story|journal=Euphytica|language=en|volume=79|issue=3|pages=293–97|doi=10.1007/BF00022530|bibcode=1994Euphy..79..293K |s2cid=45071333|issn=0014-2336}}</ref>

Plants and animals have been engineered to produce materials they do not normally make.  [[Pharming (genetics)|Pharming]] uses crops and animals as bioreactors to produce vaccines, drug intermediates, or the drugs themselves; the useful product is purified from the harvest and then used in the standard pharmaceutical production process.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1051/agro:2007050 |title=Pharmaceutical crops in California, benefits and risks. A review |year=2008 |last1=Marvier |first1=Michelle | name-list-style = vanc |journal=Agronomy for Sustainable Development |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=1–9|bibcode=2008AgSD...28....1M |s2cid=29538486 |url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00886450/file/hal-00886450.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180719040330/https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00886450/file/hal-00886450.pdf |archive-date=2018-07-19 |url-status=live }}</ref> Cows and goats have been engineered to express drugs and other proteins in their milk, and in 2009 the FDA approved a drug produced in goat milk.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/FDAVeterinarianNewsletter/ucm190728.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100111214152/http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/FDAVeterinarianNewsletter/ucm190728.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 January 2010|title=FDA Approves First Human Biologic Produced by GE Animals|publisher=US Food and Drug Administration}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=GM cow milk 'could provide treatment for blood disease'|first=Paulo |last=Rebêlo| name-list-style = vanc |date=15 July 2004|publisher=SciDev|url=http://www.scidev.net/en/news/gm-cow-milk-could-provide-treatment-for-blood-dis.html}}</ref>