How dangerous is this? Could we end up creating something indestructible like Japanese Knot weed except worse?
I think a more likely question is what about nutrient density? Making more carbs, in a sense, is easy. Sunlight + CO2 == carbs. Nutrients are more stringently limited by the mineral properties of the soil. This just shoves into our food more calories we don't need diluting the nutrients we do.
Unless their plan is to make cheap, tasteless, vodka and sake
Yes, people are better off being fed rather than not in countries where food is scarce. Better yielding crops are great for this.
Should "developed" nations end up relying on rapidly growing crops that are selected for macronutrients (or perhaps just calories) at the expense of micronutrients? In my uncommon opinion, the answer is a likely no given that we generally eat way more than is necessary and at the expense of our long term health.
The only way I can see it being beneficial in places like the United States is if it allowed individuals to grow their own food faster, cheaper, and more easily. But then we will likely implement regulations to discourage people from growing their own food. But that's pure speculation.
On the other hand, it hasn't, so far. It does exist in nature, and still doesn't pop up anywhere.
Plants also haven't evolved this functionality on their own. There are evolutionary drawbacks to uncontrolled growth, and most plants have their growth "tuned" well below what would be theoretically possible given their light and nutrient conditions.
It's been 6 years since the CRISPR breakthroughs , how are we doing on that front?