From Europe to Japan, and from Korea to Australia, consumers have been turning their backs on products made from genetically modified soy and corn, tomatoes and cotton that originated primarily in American fields. They have been demanding the labeling of biotech foods. Some American environmental, consumer, and organic food organizations, too, are now critical of genetically engineered crops. Instead, President Clinton focused on the positive environmental impact of biotechnology on the environment. Bioremediation technologies are cleaning our environment by removing toxic substances from contaminated soils and ground water.
Agricultural biotechnology reduces our dependence on pesticides.
There is evidence that foreign enemies are able to use germs to attack the American food supply, according to some experts. Currently, some research in Ames, including studies of anthrax and mad cow disease, is done in rented places in strip malls, officials said. There are no level-four labs in the US that can do research with large animals. Thirty scientists and about 150 other workers take government ferries to work on the island. But research on the 840-acre island, a mile east of Long Island, has been controversial for the entire 45 years it has been the site of animal testing.