When it comes to obsessive self-importance, very few can beat a rock star. Chris Martin recently described the Live8 benefit concert as “the greatest thing that’s ever been organized in the history of the world.” His band, Coldplay, was one of the main attractions.
I didn’t watch or even listen to the Live8 concert, which called on industrialized nations to increase aid to Africa, so I can’t say with absolute certainty that it wasn’t the greatest thing that’s ever been organized in the history of the world. Yet something tells me that it would face stiff competition from the construction of the world’s first sliced-bread factory. And don’t forget the Founding Fathers who met in Philadelphia more than 200 years ago, the Apollo space program, or the home-run derby at this week’s baseball All-Star Game in Detroit.
And then there’s what’s been done on behalf of Africa in recent days. Meeting in Scotland last week, the leaders of the G8 nations agreed to double the amount of aid they give to Africa, pledging $50 billion per year through 2010.
In a significant and related development, the William and Melinda Gates Foundation announced $437 million in multi-year grants to combat the worst health problems facing people in poor countries. The money will finance 43 separate projects, many of them focused on Africa and vaccines that could prevent the spread of deadly diseases. In four specific cases, the grants will fund biotech solutions to the nutritional challenges that wrack developing countries.
One of the masterminds behind this ambitious endeavor, Dr. Richard Klausner of the Gates Foundation, has described the grants as “very visionary and very, very high risk.” Just as with that home-run derby, however, sometimes you have to swing for the fences. “If any [of these grants] are successful,” says Klausner, “it will be well worth the investment.”
The biotechnology projects are especially compelling. In Uganda, people eat an average of more than two pounds of bananas each day--yet nearly 40 percent of all children under the age of five suffer from stunted growth. With more than $1 million in grant money, scientists will search for ways to improve the nutritional value of Ugandan bananas by increasing their levels of pro-vitamin A, vitamin E, and iron. This will be done through the same techniques of genetic enhancement that have become the norm for corn, cotton, and soybean farmers in the United States and many other countries.
Another grant worth $7.5 million will use biotechnology to improve the nutritional value of cassava, a starchy root crop (sometimes called manioc) that is a staple food for 250 million people. Researchers will look for ways to boost its vitamin and mineral content. Moreover, they’ll try to reduce the levels of cyanide that naturally occur in cassava--a feature of this plant that makes proper preparation a necessity among those who eat it.
A third grant worth more than $11 million will attempt to develop local varieties of Golden Rice, a nutritionally enhanced crop now being introduced in Asia.
The most exciting of the four biotech grants may be the $17 million earmarked for sorghum, a drought-resistant grain that is a vital crop for about 300 million people. The problem with sorghum is that it doesn’t pack the same nutritional punch as many other crops, and it can be difficult for humans to digest. The African-based non profit foundation, Africa Harvest, will work with Pioneer Hi-Bred International and researchers from both Africa and the United States to boost the levels of pro-vitamin A, vitamin E, iron, zinc, amino acids, and protein in a coordinated effort to fight malnutrition.
The grant for sorghum is one of the largest in the $437 million package, in part because it holds so much potential. Prototypes of bio-fortified sorghum already have been developed, and there’s every reason to believe further advances will be made. On the family tree of staple crops, sorghum is a fairly close relative of corn--and the genetic enhancement of corn plants has revolutionized agriculture around the world.
Even if all of these projects succeed, I’d hesitate to label them “the greatest thing that’s ever been organized in the history of the world.” But I’d certainly consider them pretty darn good.
News 
When it comes to obsessive self-importance, very few can beat a rock star. Chris Martin recently described the Live8 benefit concert as “the greatest thing that’s ever been organized in the history of the world.” His band, Coldplay, was one of the main attractions.
