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Brits Ready Crops For Global Warming

Posted by Hemos on from the gearing-up-for-a-brave-new-world dept.

Anonymous Coward writes "Not wanting to come up short at the dinner table, British researchers are developing new crops for a dryer, hotter UK. Starting with barley, they're turning genes on and off to help plants overcome their affinity for the country's cool, wet summers."

7 of 83 comments (clear)

  1. Meh... by nathan+s · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Whatever happened to old-fashioned selecting crops? If you plant enough of them and grow them for a few years, you'll be able to get seeds that are suited for your area, if I'm not mistaken. Is it just the shortcut factor that makes the GM appealing in this case?

    Not that I'm against genetic modification in principle, but I'm just curious if it's really that much superior to simple selection.

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    1. Re:Meh... by mikesmind · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Genetic modification has a lot to do with patents and licensing. There is not enough money (profits) in crossing varieties the old-fashioned way.

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    2. Re:Meh... by gstoddart · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Genetic modification has a lot to do with patents and licensing. There is not enough money (profits) in crossing varieties the old-fashioned way.

      There sure as hell will be when the GM ones get wiped out due to lack of bio-diversity or because the ability for the plants to produce new seed has been removed so you have to buy from the manufacturer.

      Then all of those 'heirloom' varieties are going to become more valuable than you could ever imagine.

      The natural versions of those plants survived just fine for thousands of years. The new-and-improved versions? Who knows how they'll last -- I just don't want to be still living when we suddenly don't have corn and rice anymore.
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  2. Now hang on a minute... by TripMaster+Monkey · · Score: 1, Interesting


    I thought all this global warming was diluting the Gulf Stream, slowing it down and making Great Britain colder.

    So which is it?

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  3. One interesting research possibility... by Noryungi · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Would be genetically-engineering plants -- including edible plants -- to use climate-changing gases to grow, and release less of them into the atmosphere.

    If, for instance, useful trees (fruit trees, oaks, pine and birch for instance) could be engineered to use more CO2 and release less methane (which they seem to be doing right now), that would be a fantastic incentive to plant more trees and therefore absorb more carbon into forests instead of releasing it into the atmosphere.

    With a lot of work and a bit of luck, that could be enough to slow and eventually reverse global warming, to return the Earth to more normal weather patterns.

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  4. Wrong direction by jrootham · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This may be heading in the wrong direction. The expected perverse consequence of global warming for Britain is the shut down of the Gulf Stream and consequently much colder weather. If it dries out as well, Canadian wheat will be the crop to go to.

  5. Britain to get hotter or colder? by dmatos · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Well, a whole bunch of people have already pointed out that the current widely accepted hypothesis is that global warming will shut down the gulf stream, and make Britain colder. However,

    The Gulf stream tends to have a moderating effect on Britain. It makes the winters warmer and the summers cooler. If the Gulf Stream shuts down, won't that just eliminate the moderating effect? Wouldn't you have colder winters and warmer summers? If that's the case, then developing plants that can survive in a hotter climate (during the hotter growing season) is the right move.

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