DuPont CEO Says Full Potential of Biotechnology Needed to Address Global Demands
DuPont Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Charles O. Holliday, Jr., told The World Life Sciences Forum BioVision that biotechnology will enable the world to keep pace with the exponential growth in human and societal needs. "There is no more powerful tool at our disposal for addressing global needs than biotechnology," Holliday said. By 2025, demand for the world's food and fiber production will have to double on virtually the same amount of land currently in production, he said. There will be similar challenges for meeting the pressing needs of health care and energy requirements as well. Applications of biotechnology today are demonstrating the potential of the technology to help meet these future demands.
Holliday discussed the role DuPont science and innovation is playing in providing biotechnology-based pest resistant and higher yielding crops to help meet growing global demand for grain on less amounts of land. DuPont is also using bioengineering tools to create new, high-performance materials. Scientists have discovered a way to produce a polymer innovation from DuPont, using corn as a key manufacturing ingredient.
Additionally, DuPont is actively working to leverage nutrition for the prevention and management of disease. Recently, the company introduced a new soybean oil to help food companies reduce trans fats. A number of other projects are under way, including soybeans that produce omega-3 fatty acids for better health and research to help food companies offer better tasting and healthier foods using biotechnology.
"It has become convenient to talk about red, green and white biotechnology to distinguish human, plant and industrial applications," Holliday said. "But our experience at DuPont is showing us that the various types of biotechnology are interrelated. Working with an external, highly regarded international global panel of scientists, ethicists, policy influencers, NGOs, and other business leaders, we have established a set of guiding principles that we use to bring the products of our research to the marketplace."
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