and of course should you be a victim of gaucher's disease, you would be very happy about that. let's take another example. these are sweet potatoes that have been modified to resist a number of viral infections common in south africa. so at a place where otherwise you might not be able to grow these sweet potatoes, the local population might not be able to benefit from the nutrition in these sweet potatoes, they can do so. these are just some examples of some of the benefits that have come from some forms of genetic modification of plants. but just as there is science showing these benefits, there is also science showing concerns. and i'm going to start by explaining that the largest modification in america, the largest deployed modification is to make plants such as corn and soybean and sugar beets resistant to an herbicide called glyphosate. now, the use of gly p. hosate has increased dramatically over the last two decades. in 1994, we were talking about 7.4 million pounds, not very much, but by 2012, we're talking about and rounding off 160 million pounds of this herbicide b

disease, so that seems like a benefit because people suffering from gaucher's disease are awfully happy about having a remedy. or let's take yams grown in south africa. well, they have several different viruses that affect these yams, and so by genetic genetically engineering it to resist these viruses, as far as i'm aware, we don't know yet of any side effects that are a problem. as of now, this can be presented as something that is generally registered as a benefit to have this resistance to these viruses. and there is even discussion of genetic modifications that can be done that serve in lieu of immunizations. that's a very interesting scientific idea that could be a way to provide resistance to humans to certain diseases. but that's only part of the story. just as science has documented, there are some benefits, there are also some concerns. here in the united states of america, the major genetic modification is something called round-up ready. it makes a particular plant immune to the effects of an herbicide. an herbicide is something that kills plants. this makes the plants immun

you've got to be safe on what you have asked gaucher two. that panic at the beginning of figure. you said earnings are going to be down 7%. >> first-quarter earnings down 7% if you take at energy it's probably too .5% to 3% down. look at the earnings numbers that have come out before guidance last week. caterpillar came out and revise the first-quarter earnings down. you will see that in the next four weeks. there is a seasonal phenomenon so people need to be very careful. what is happiness volumes have been down so far and there's not a lot of conviction in this market. dagen: just really quickly. trump speech tonight is a prepared speech with newt gingrich talked about. this is not off the cuff, not the usual trump the ec. they work done at for at least the last week. >> he's going to drop the cup a little bit. maria: i've got to tune into that. he won't be spit balling talking about poll numbers. dagen: this is the nitty-gritty. maria: good to see you. thank you so much, everybody. i'll do it for us. "varney & company" at that. join us to

carrot cells have been transgenicly modified to produce a chemical that treats gaucher's disease. now gaucher's disease is a metabolic disorder where people lack a particular enzyme that helps rid the body of certain fatty substances and those fatty substances then accumulate causing enlarged livers and spleens and bone damage and bruising and anemia. these transgenic carrots are part of the answer, part of the solution. or let's turn to sweet potatoes. researchers are genetically modifying sweet potatoes to withstands multiple viral infections commonly encountered in south africa making this a much more successful crop and providing more food to people who need more food. so that is a positive development. but all of this is not a one sided scientific picture. there are also scientifically documented concerns or we can call them scientifically documented problems that have occurred with transgenic crops. and let me start by noting the most common transgenic crop in america, our crops that have been modified to be resistant to guy phosphate -- guy phosphate. you can put more herbi