This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Wednesday, January 27th, 2016.

I'm Caleb Brown.

Crude attempts at genetically engineered foods have been going on for centuries.

It's only in the past 30 years that science has begun to catch up with the desire and that may create some new problems

Robert Freley is the chief technology officer at Monsanto. We talked about the ongoing fight over genetically modified foods

following a forum on the subject last week.

I'd like to start with talking about Norman Borlogg a little bit.

What would you say was his chief contribution to science and to

global prosperity? I would just start by saying that I think Norman is Borlogg's contributions

were probably one of the greatest humanitarian contributions of all time you

know for people who who don't appreciate it, I mean as a kid, you know, I can remember watching TV programs

when I was six or eight years old about the starvation in India and Pakistan and the dire predictions on

you know starvation and hunger.

What Norm did was invented you you know, you know,

you know, as a great scientist invented new wheat and rice

varieties that thrived in India and Pakistan.

He did all of his research, you know, in Mexico, brought those

weeds into India, brought them into Pakistan. They dramatically increased yields. And today, India and Pakistan are our net exporters of food because of the productivity.

You know, the folks who've followed it, you know, norms, you know, Norm's, you know, attributed to saving a billion lives.

He received the Nobel Prize, really the only person in agriculture who's ever done that and then he he took the the

financial proceedings from the Nobel Prize and started the the world food price

which is now in Des Moines, Iowa.

...