Cottonseed with gossypol (left) and edible ultra-low gossypol cottonseed (right) which recently passed USDA deregulation criteria and could soon be turned into a foodstuff worldwide. (Texas A&M University)

At a Glance

Scientists with Texas A&M genetically modified cotton to remove a toxic substance from its seed, making it edible.The USDA deregulated the genetically modified cotton, opening up the door for it to be mass produced.Cottonseed is rich in protein and grown across food-scarce and impoverished countries, meaning it could soon help supplement the global hunger crisis.Edible cottonseed could also provide a rich source of feed to livestock and aquaculture across the globe.

might need a revamp soon, and it might go something like this: The touch, the feel, the taste,of cotton,the fabric andthe foodof our lives.

That's because wemight all be eating cotton, or at leastits protein-rich seed, soon.

Scientists with Texas A&M Universityroadblockallowing edible cottonseed to come one step closer to the mouths of humans,livestock and farmed fish across the globe. TheUSDA just greenlighted the growth of a new genetically modified version of cotton safe for humans to eat.

It's a development that could go a long way toward making a dent in that's only worsening due to climate-change-fueledcrop-killing climate extremes.

Cotton might look harmless, but naturally producesa toxin calledgossypol that fends off predators and diseases.It turns outthat gossypol, when it's not, also happens to make single-stomached animals – humans included – sick enough that it can cause paralysis and even death, .

So, even though cotton isand could help nourish 500 million-plus people, the San Antonio News-Express reports, humans couldn't use it for much more than textiles, cottonseed oil and feed for gossypol-tolerantlivestock like cows.

That all changed thanks to the life's work ofTexas A&M University's Dr. Keerti Rathore. For more than 20 years, Rathore worked to crack the cotton code. Once scientists identified the gene in cotton plants responsible for producing gossypol, Rathore then spent time, 23 years' worth,tweaking the genetic code of the plant until he finally produced a cotton plant with gossypol in everything but its seeds.

"We have eliminated this gossypol from the seedwithout affecting its levels in other parts of the plant,"said Dr. Rathore."With the toxin removed from the cottonseed, it can potentially feed 500 to 600 million people per year."

Rathore said that all of the world's chicken eggs, 1.4 trillion of them, can't even match the potential protein produced by cottonseed, which is about 23 percent protein by composition.

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“The kernels from the safe seed could be ground into a flour-like powder after oil extraction and used as a protein additive in food preparations or perhaps roasted and seasoned as a nutritious snack,” said Rathore, who said his upbringing as a doctor's son in rural, extremely malnourished areas of India motivated him to pursue this line of research.

If 600 million people could meet their protein requirements from the new safe cottonseed, it would go a long way toward solving malnourishment. on global hunger estimated that 821 million people were undernourished across the globe. Vital staple crops like wheat, rice and corn are on the decline due to a rise in extreme climatological events like drought and floods, exacerbating the crisis, the report adds.The long-term negative effects of climate change will likely only cause more of these extreme events, worsening global hunger.

An edible cotton could help supplement the loss of those crops and provide a protein-rich source of food for areas lacking it, Dr. Rathore said.

Dr. Rathore's research, which was published in 2006,received$6 million in funding from Cotton Inc., which represents the cotton industry, allowingfor further testing and studies of the impacts that the new ultra-low-dose gossypol cottonseed had on things like other plantsand animals.

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Those studies paved the way for, meaning ultra-low gossypol cotton can now be grown anywhere. The cotton industry has an interest in supporting the diversification of cotton. Beyond providing a food source for humans, edible cottonseed could reduce the cost of producing cottonseed oil and opens the door for an entirely new industry of feed for pigs, chickens and other animals in traditional farming as well as the burgeoning industry of aquaculture, including farmed fish and shrimp.

Even with all the recent progress, it could still be years though before you're munching on cottonseed trail mix.

The newUltra Low Gossypol Cottonseed (ULGCS), as it's called,needs FDA approval before humans and animals here in the U.S. can actually start eating it. Even simpler still, someone needs to actually grow enough of it to be mass produced. Finally, a seed company needs to take the new safe cottonseed under its wing and sell it to farmers across the globe.