Down on the pharm

Tue, 19 Aug 2003 19:30:00 +0000

On the bluffs overlooking the Huerfano River of eastern Colorado, farmer Doug Wiley raises cattle and pigs and grows "a little dab" of melons and sweet corn. He's an organic farmer, but he hasn't bothered with official certification: "I'm what you call country certified," he says. "That means I shake your hand, look you in the eye, and invite you to come out to my place and see what I'm doing."

Wiley knows exactly what he's doing; his farm has been in his family for almost 90 years, and he's worked the same patch of dirt his entire life. He's beginning to wonder, though, if he's always going to be so rock-solid sure about what's sprouting on the land around him.

Earlier this year, Wiley learned that Meristem Therapeutics, a biotechnology company based in France, wants to test a new sort of genetically modified corn in Colorado soil. The company's crop produces proteins that can be used to manufacture lipase, an enzyme used in the treatment of digestive disorders. Optimistic backers say this corn and other "pharmaceutical" crops could one day provide cheaper, more accessible treatments for maladies ranging from the life threatening to the merely annoying. They say pharmaceutical crops might also open lucrative markets to the nation's struggling small farmers.

Salon.com > Michelle Nijhuis

Down on the pharm