We agricultural scientists are using advanced biotechnologies to develop more robust and nutritious crop plants for use in the developing world, and we urge these chefs to reconsider their opposition to such a promising scientific endeavor. The patrons of such exclusive restaurants can afford the luxury of forgoing new crop technologies and paying a premium for their foods. Dinner for two at Le Bec-Fin can cost hundreds of dollars.
Biotechnology can help in producing more and better foods in developing countries.
But opposition to its use and boycotts of biotechnology-derived foods will threaten these benefits. These novel genetic tools offer greater flexibility and precision in the modification of crop plants. We, and other scientists at our international agricultural research centers, are developing such products as new rice varieties fortified with iron and with added beta carotene, sweet potatoes with enhanced dietary protein, cassava and papaya with built-in resistance to common plant viruses, bananas that produce vaccines against cholera, and many others. All of these products are being created specifically for use in developing countries. But opposition from the industrialized world can critically damage our ability to use these techniques to help improve peoples' lives.