Today is Yesterday's Future

In today’s episode, we begin to explore the tremendous opportunities that are emerging as a result of gene editing. This ability to apply cutting-edge technology to crops is distinctly different from transgenic or GMO approaches, and its impact could be even greater on the future of food and agriculture. It shouldn’t seem far-fetched that breakthroughs in genetics can really impact things on the farm, because we’ve seen it before. Both the scientist on today’s episode, Dr. Dave Bubeck, and the farmer, Heather Hampton Knodle, remember clearly what things were like when transgenic crops hit the market. Dr. Dave Bubeck is a research director at Corteva Agriscience, and has been working for seed companies for over 33 years. He works in the seed product development group and spends a lot of his time with the seed commercialization team.“ That's the real advantage of genome editing is that we'll get to a speed of product development that is far beyond  what we could do with conventional breeding.” - Dave Bubeck, Ph.D.Heather Hampton Knodle is a fourth generation farmer in south central Illinois. Like others carrying on a legacy of farming, she has seen first hand the impact some biotechnology can have on the industry.  ”There's just kind of this implicit trust that some scientist somewhere is going to be working on this. I think many people have taken for granted  the type of seed and genetic technology that we've been able to tap into.” - Heather Hampton KnodleSome Takeaways from this episode include: We really are on the cusp of some incredible breakthroughs that could come from these gene editing tools. Advancements that have taken years if not decades through traditional breeding can be sped up dramatically for the benefit of producers and consumers.Gene editing is not just GMO 2.0 - there is a lot of nuance that makes gene editing a game changer beyond what GMOs have been able to do. Every one in the industry has a role to play in agriscience innovation. The farmer and the scientist have to trust each other that each is specializing and advancing their field for all of our benefits. Agriscience Explained is a podcast brought to you by Corteva Agriscience. Host Tim Hammerich visits with both scientists and farmers about how agricultural innovations are discovered, developed and deployed on the farm.