16 THE CAAR COMMUNICATOR TECHNOLOGIES TO WATCH Some companies involved in CEA in Canada are: Agrifac (Dutch); 80 Acres Farms (US); AeroFarms (US); Bowery Farming (US); InFarm (Finland); and Plenty (US). All have a hand in Canada, but this writer was unable to root out any Canadian companies involved in such technologies. Agricultural Biotechnology Biotechnology, aka agritech, is the modification of living animals or plants to make them better. “Better” is a subjective term, but in this case, it’s science trying to make a, for example, seed more resistant to cold and pests, maybe also faster growing, and if it creates a larger, better-tasting yield, that would be great too. Unlike in the past, when the only way to create a better crop or animal was to cross-breed for its best traits and hope, this technology involves the science of GMOs—genetically modified organisms. The use of it is still for crop, animal, or microorganism improvement, but it’s also to better develop biopesticides or other types of microbial soil health improvement. Examples of agricultural biotechnology agritech sciences include: • Genetic Engineering (GMO)— a description was noted above. • Molecular Markers—genetic mark- ers used to identify specific genes associated with desirable traits. Plant breeders use them to select plants with the desired character- istics more efficiently. • Molecular Diagnostics—involves the analysis of DNA or RNA to find possible pathogens, monitor plant health, and assess genetic diversity. • Vaccines—using biotechnology to develop vaccines for livestock and crops. • Tissue Culture—the growing of plant cells or tissues within a con- trolled environment to create larger numbers of plants. It can also have a role in making rare plant species less rare. • Crop Modification Techniques— there are four specific techniques: 1) Traditional Breeding involves the crossbreeding of compatible spe- cies to create new varieties with desired traits. Humanity has been doing this for years to create new dog, cat, and fish breeds, as well as crops—think about all those new varieties of apples, for exam- ple, we nosh on every year—Gala, Red Delicious, Pink Lady, Mac- intosh, and the Honeycrisp. Of the 7,500 apple varieties, Canadian farms grow about 200 of them. 2) Mutagenesis: inducing random mutations in plants to generate variety—done to create genetic diversity within a population. For example, in the 1950s, a fungal plague—Panama Disease— wiped out the global banana crop that was the Gros Michel banana. The banana we eat now—the Cav- endish—is less fragrant and decid- edly less tasty—according to those in the know—than the Gros Michel banana. The Cavendish is, however, a more resistant ba- nana to that fungal disease. Most- ly. As such, to avoid being depen- dent on just a single variety of ba- nanas, scientists have been intro- ducing mutagenesis to change the DNA of the Cavendish to hopefully something that will be even more resistant. 3) Transgenics, which introduce specific genes from one species into another to confer desired traits. If you’ve seen The Simp- sons and their tomacco, it in- volves the crossing of tasty toma- toes and the calming addictive- ness of tobacco. In the real world, we’ve seen the creation of GloFish—tropical zebra fish with a green fluorescent protein spliced into its DNA to allow it to glow un- der UV light. Hopefully, science produces better uses for the tech- nology other than the Lizard’s new arm in a Spider-Man comic book or movie. In Canada, several companies are actively involved in agricultural biotechnology, such as Gatineau, Québec-based Agrisoma, which is known for their work in developing biofuels and sustainable crop production. They were behind the first transatlantic flight powered by bio-jet fuel when a Boeing 787 Virgin Atlantic flew from London to New York in 2023. Frontier Agri-Science of Ottawa, Ontario, works in crop genetics and breeding to improve crop yield and quality. Linnaeus Plant Sciences of Vancouver, British Columbia, Agri-tech researchers examine stacks of lettuce crops in a vertical farming facility. AzmanL/E+ photo
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