One of the trails of crumbs sprinkled throughout this log marks a meandering path through agricultural biotechnology. I'd been planing to gather up those crumbs one day and compose an integrated story that maps a clear, bold route to a better place. Richard Manning beat me to it.

Manning was discussed in the earlier post Cereal Killer where reviews of his books, Against The Grain and Grassland were critiqued. He makes a detailed case against industrial monoculture of grains, but he isn't a wacko with an unreflective, unrealistic grudge. He knows that grain agriculture must and will continue, but he'd like to see improvements.

A related theme was discussed in The Problem of Agriculture which presented Wes Jackson's case against the grain and efforts at The Land Institute to solve them by crossing domestic grains with wild cousins. Biotechnology in general and specific issues in intellectual property and the place where those threads tangle in apomixis were discussed too.

Manning discuses all of these issues. He explains the problems, then proposes solutions by presenting the work of three researchers working at the leading edge of agricultural biotechnology.

Agriculture is one of the most ill-conceived human endeavors. We plow down stable communities of hundreds of species of plants to get single-row crops. We replace entire ecosystems with pesticides, fertilizers, precious fresh water, and tractor emissions. Then, after every harvest, we start all over again. Organic agriculture breaks this cycle. But it's just a Band-Aid on the wound.

Add the knowledge and tools of biotechnology, though, and we are on the verge of something enormous. Plant genomes carry age-old records that reveal the complex manner by which nature manages itself.

A key point he illuminates is that we are novices. To properly evaluate agricultural biotechnology we need to think in terms of what is to come rather than what has already happened. The major problems we have are that we are harming the environment while still not producing adequate food and fiber, and are inhibited by vested interests in governments and corporations.

The science behind some of these techniques makes transgenics look unsophisticated. But the sell is simple: Smart breeding is the best of transgenics crossed with the best of organics. It can feed the world, heal the earth, and put an end to the Big Ag monopoly.

Take it from Robert Goodman, the former head scientist at Calgene who now works with the McKnight Foundation, overseeing a $50 million program that funds genomics research in the developing world. "The public argument about genetically modified organisms, I think, will soon be a thing of the past," he says. "The science has moved on."

[disclosure: Manning and McKnight are in cahoots]

I highly recommend reading the article.