Diabetes rates are exploding everywhere. In large part, the diabetes scourge is caused by obesity and sedentary lifestyles.To survive, diabetics need insulin. But demand has risen so quickly that a shortage looms. A Canadian company from Calgary offers a solution: a plant-made insulin that could revolutionize diabetes treatment and the use of plants in pharmacology. Sembiosys succeeded in modifying sawfflower plants so they can now produce the precious insulin. This is what we call molecular farming.The first trial on human beings was successful. But before marketing his plant-made insulin, Maurice Moloney and his team need to produce it in bigger quantity, in outside fields.To certain environmental groups such as Greenpeace, the risks of open-air molecular farming outweigh the benefits.

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