Potential of Agri-Biotech Engineering: Rebellion Against Food Insecurity

Among the greatest achievements in the twenty-first century in science and technology, one is food bioengineering, which has brought a revolution especially in the food and agriculture sector. By 2050, it is estimated that more than 10 billion people will inhabit the Earth, and it is also assumed that at that time adequate resources will not be present to feed human kind. Hunger and malnutrition already claim a large number of people in the developing countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Malnutrition or under nourishment is however, not related to any country; they are about the foods that are nutrient less or, in extreme cases, no food at all. Countless people in developed nations, though mostly well fed, still do not receive proper nourishment. Using food bioengineering, which is the most advanced branch of biotechnology, hunger and mass starvation can be controlled up to a certain limit. The majority of research in this area is focused on developing crops that are able to grow in stress conditions so that even maximal utilization of barren-land can be achieved. Biotechnological advancements are yielding fruitful results in this direction and are leading to nutrient-rich foods produced in a safe manner and environmentally friendly. As genetic engineering is changing at such a fast rate, it is quite possible that in coming decades, the majority of the food that we eat will be bioengineered. In this chapter, methods and applications of biotechnology are highlighted that are related to the production of safe food with high nutritional value in the case of transgenic plants, animals, or microorganisms.