According to the “Time†magazine report, more than 20 million farmers in nearly 80 countries around the world are still growing cotton, and the principle of supremacy of cotton products still applies. Although cotton products now account for nearly 40% of the world's total fiber fabrics, cotton has never been available for human consumption.
The production of cotton in the world today is very large. Cotton is rich in protein. If cotton is used as a ration for humans, it can feed 500 million people for a year. However, cotton must go through a series of complicated reprocessing procedures to remove the gossypol before it is eaten. Gossypol is a toxic chemical that is used by cotton to protect against insects and bacteria. "People, pigs, and chickens can't eat cotton. Only cows and other ruminants can eat it," says Kettle Heck, vice chairman of the Agricultural Research Group at the Keton Industry Group.
If calamine is removed, people can get a lot of cheap protein that everyone can eat. But if all the gossypol is removed from the cotton plant as people tried in the 1950s, the unresisted cotton will be eaten by insects. Professor Lesau of Texas A&M University solved this problem through genetic engineering. In the newly acquired field planting experimental data, Lesau’s team demonstrated that they can only remove the gossypol from the cotton, while the other parts of the cotton plant are unaffected and can still naturally resist pests.
"This study is likely to open the door for the safe use of cotton, with an annual output of more than 40 million tons of cotton, which can produce a huge amount of valuable protein," said American agronomist Norman Paul Logger. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for raising the world's food supply by developing high wheat varieties.
Leseo used a new technique called RNA interference to prevent the production of enzymes that produce gossypol in cotton by genetic sequencing. After he succeeded in the lab, he began to cultivate in the greenhouse to test whether the transgenic cotton could survive and whether the new plant could maintain this new property. Lesao's latest research data shows that this kind of genetically modified cotton is no different from ordinary cotton except that cotton seeds can be consumed immediately. "If you can succeed in the greenhouse, then it should also apply to farmland," he said.
If GM cotton is to be placed on supermarket shelves, it needs to be approved by the government first, and it is very likely that fish and animals will be tested first. Cottonseed is very useful as a free protein. Maybe you will like it. Lesao ate a few cottons and said, "It tastes good and it tastes like chickpeas." (Kona)