Genetically modified corn is welcome but won't help much

Crops designed for climate resilience only skirt the real problem

- AMANDA LITTLE

The iconic green cornfields of the US Midwest are about to shrink—not in acreage, but in stature. A new genetically modified (GMO) corn varietal stands on fatter stalks and grows about a third shorter than the height of conventional corn. Dubbed ‘smart corn’ by its developer, Bayer, this well-timed mutant has been designed to withstand the increasingly costly pressures of climate change. The implications are as harrowing as they are inspiring—and not because stubbier corn is genetically modified. I’ve argued before that GMO crop breeding, which inserts bits of DNA from one species of plant into the genome of another, can be judiciously applied for global benefit.

Short-stature corn is harrowing because it’s yet another recent example of an ingenious adaptation that’s making it easier for policymakers, investors and voters to avoid solving the challenge at hand: climate change. New methods of acclimating to the climate crisis are worth celebrating, but they should also be considered a clarion call to solve the problem at its root.