M. Criser


nology since the first digital computer was invented by University of Flor-
ida alumnus John Atanasoff. Although we have seen the cloning of plants
from tissues, advances in cellular and molecular biology, embryo rescue
and cell fusion, gene transfer and other genetic engineering, biotechnology
has not received the same attention as electronic technology.
 If we are to develop plants and animals that can withstand insects,
diseases, and adverse weather, while producing greater nutrition and other
products, we must dedicate the same kind of human and fiscal resources
that we have given to information storage, retrieval, manipulations, and
exchange.
 The average American may be more concerned with losing weight than
having a new grain in his morning cereal, but the possibility of developing
public interest and support for biotechnology is probably better than ever
before in our history.
 Following the famine in Africa that was so dramatically depicted in our
newspapers, on television, and through other media, public interest and
concern has been widely expressed-from an outpouring of individual do-
nations, to "Live Aid" and other mega events. In this country, the concern
for the starving in Africa has been translated into helping our own food
producers with "Farm Aid" and to helping our own hungry with "Hands
Across America."
 In spite of the criticism that Americans think that they can solve world
hunger by sending a can of food to Ethiopia, most Americans and others
realize that education and agricultural development are the real solutions
to the long-range problems. It will not take much to convince Americans,
and others throughout the world, that biotechnology holds the greatest
promise for the future.
 Perhaps we cannot develop a grain, or bean, or bird, or other food
sources that can grow in the desert. But we may be able to develop plants
to help stabilize the deserts or provide edible food sources from minute
water supplies. Is it unthinkable that a plant might be developed that
would pull hydrogen and oxygen from the air to provide its own source of
water?
 Creating what was once the unthinkable is the real challenge of biotech-
nology. This is not just for Africa. In this country, with our seeming abun-
dance of food, we need to be concerned with producing food sources
which yield more per acre, require less pesticides, and less fertilizers. We
need crops that are more energy efficient and can be grown successfully
without potential damage to the environment.
 Twenty-five years ago, it was unthinkable to have a calculator that
 would operate on a battery smaller than a dime. It was unthinkable to