Food History: The Geneticist Who Has Saved More Lives Than Anyone Who Ever Lived Many people are up in arms about genetic modified produce, but as I always say, you can never be all inclusive about anything. In 1970 Norman E. Borlaug was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for a lifetime of work to feed a hungry world. Although a scientist with outstanding contributions, perhaps Dr. Borlaugs greatest achievement has been his unending struggle to integrate the various streams of agricultural research into viable technologies and to convince political leaders to bring these advances to fruition. In 1944, Dr. Borlaug participated in the Rockefeller Foundations pioneering technical assistance program in Mexico, where he was a research scientist in charge of wheat improvement. For the next sixteen years, he worked to solve a series of wheat production problems that were limiting wheat cultivation in Mexico and to help train a whole generation of young Mexican scientists. The work in Mexico not only had a profound impact on Dr. Borlaugs life and philosophy of agriculture research and development, but also on agricultural production, first in Mexico and later in many parts of the world. It was on the research stations and farmers fields of Mexico that Dr. Borlaug developed successive generations of wheat varieties with broad and stable disease resistance, broad adaptation to growing conditions across many degrees of latitude, and with exceedingly high yield potential. These new wheat varieties and improved crop management practices transformed agricultural production in Mexico during the 1940s and 1950s and later in Asia and Latin America, sparking what today is known as the Green Revolution. Because of his achievements to prevent hunger, famine and misery around the world, it is said that Dr. Borlaug has saved more lives than any other person who has ever lived.
Posted on: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 17:48:27 +0000