Bioengineered Cotton Could Help Solve World Hunger

Humans have relied on cotton’s textile fibre for nearly seven millennia. However, utilising cottonseed as food has been a long and unfulfilled goal of many plant breeders. Along with its abundant, high-quality protein, cottonseed also contains gossypol – a toxic chemical that renders the seed inedible. Cottonseed’s fate as a mostly unusable by-product seemed sealed until Dr Keerti Rathore, a professor at Texas A&M University, announced that he had successfully created gossypol-free cottonseed. Dr Rathore’s tireless devotion has given the world the potential to significantly improve food security worldwide.