The history of agriculture is a history of humans altering the genetic make-up of plants to increase productivity for our use. Yet, when modern biotechnology is used to manipulate the same genetic material more directly, we get the heebie-jeebies about having transgenic or Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in our dinner! Dr. Calderón-Urrea will give us an overview of these transgenic plants: the science, the promise, and the risks in this brave new world. He argues that GMOs “are an issue to be concerned about, not swept under the rug; we should be proactive towards their intelligent use”.

Dr. Calderón-Urrea will then describe how his laboratory is transferring genes involved in programmed cell death (PCD) or so-called suicide genes from nematode worms into crop plants, so that any pest worms trying to eat those plants then find their own suicide genes activated!