Genomics Now: Feeding 9 billion people in 2050 - Admission/Application Essay Example

Genomics Now 20 Mar. Introduction This article highlights the challenges of feeding nine billion people in 2050 and the solution that has been proposed by Rod Wing. The Problem to be SolvedFeeding nine billion people is not a small task. There are concerns that the current agriculture practices may not sustain this population and that the environment may be destroyed due to the large volume of water, fertilizers and pesticides that would be required. Time is running out and there is a need to create the green super crops.

The green super crops must use less water, fertilizers and pesticides but produce double or even triple yields. The Solution to the Problem It is hoped that advanced studies on plant genomes will play a significant role in the creation of green super crops. The popularity of cereals forms a good basis for these studies because they form 60% of the calories and proteins consumed by human beings – maize, rice and wheat particularly stand out. Comparative genomics is expected to help in understanding of cereals.

This understanding has already produced good results as seen in the works of different researchers.The Challenge to be OvercomeHowever, it is noted that the critical problem that is hampering the creation of green super rice varieties is the lack of “coordinated international effort to systematically understand its genome (and accessions, cultivars, land races, and wild relatives)” (Wing 1). Though there are ten nations which have joined hands to further research on rice genome, there are critical challenges which are still experienced.

One of them is the bureaucracy challenge that leads to limited access to information in terms of “material transfer agreements, intellectual property, quarantine restrictions, and funding to maintain and distribute” (Wing 1). Another challenge is the academician life cycle which fosters academicians to compete against one another instead of coordinating with one another. The Way Forward A proposal is made that will ensure that the present challenge of bureaucracy is eliminated. This proposal is termed “$9 billion to help solve the 9 billion people question”.

The idea is to raise nine billion US dollars which will be used to build and staff six Green Super Crop Science and Technology Centers in North America, South America, Africa, Europe and South East Asia. Federal governments, regional funding agencies and philanthropic organizations will help to raise the 9 billion US dollars towards this campaign. The centers will incline their research towards the rice crop. They will also be equipped with the state of the art facilities which will include phenol-typing facilities.

The way forward for this proposal to work is by having stakeholders to work out the details and specifics. If the proposal succeeds in setting up the scientific research centers, it will serve as a model for similar agricultural initiatives and will also make revolutionary contribution to feeding people. Conclusion Feeding nine billion people in 40 years is an issue that is currently at the fore of world issues. There are optimistic indications that studies on crop genomes will help in creating super green crops.

Various researches have already produced bright results. To effectively tap into the knowledge of crop genomes, there is a need to overcome the bureaucracy challenge that hinders coordination among nations in research on crop genomes. A proposal to build six Green Super Crop Science and Technology Centers around the world has been floated as a solution to this challenge. Nine billion US dollars will be required to build and run these facilities. Works CitedWing, Rod. “The 9 Billion-People Question.

” The University of Arizona, 2013. Web. 20 Mar. 2013. .