Regrettably, the media, with little regard to balance, are absorbing the misinformation being peddled by the activist groups. All Canadians should be extremely concerned that a relatively small group of individuals is attempting to limit or eliminate our future access to biotechnology products.
Biotechnology is one of many ways to develop new products.
It is being used to develop more nutritional foods, diagnostic kits to detect harmful bacteria that can cause illness, and medicines to cure diseases. Products of biotechnology are already demonstrating their benefits in many ways. For agriculture, biotechnology is already increasing food productivity with less environmental impact than most current farming practices. Genetic engineering, one of the more recent tools of biotechnology, was used 20 years ago to develop insulin to treat diabetes. For agriculture, the first crops were tested in 1988.