Should We Genetically Engineer The Orange To Save It?
Healthy Oranges in a Florida Grove U.S. Agricultural Research Service A deadly disease threatens oranges all around the world. Orange growers are considering genetically modifying your morning OJ. Why? A terrible disease-Scientific American calls it "the most devastating disease of citrus plants in the world"-is spreading in the U.S. "Five years from now, there may be no more Florida orange juice," one University of Florida scientist, J. Glenn Morris, told Scientific American. The plant illness, called citrus greening, makes trees drop their leaves and stunts their fruit. It is very virulent. There's no known treatment for sick trees, nor any pesticide that is able to kill sufficient numbers of the illness' carrier, an insect called the Asian citrus psyllid, to totally prevent the disease's spread. Scientists have gradually concluded that the only way to combat citrus greening is by engineering a resistant tree, The New York Times reports. That's not a decision...