Many want an outright ban on all genetically modified foods and organisms. Greenpeace talk of genetic 'pollution'. Genetic engineering, they warn, 'is a vast experiment with unknown risks'. Even if they lose the immediate battle to ban a genetically modified foodstuff, the environmentalists have successfully influenced public perceptions. In order to establish a different framework for looking at the issue, it is worth first dwelling on the reasons for making such novel crops, and the scientific achievement involved in doing so.
Genetic engineering promises a wider diversity of better tasting, more nutritional foods.
The more common result to date has been new varieties of boring old staples such as soya and corn. But this is no bad thing. Better ways of producing staples would be a major achievement. Monsanto's new soya strain is 'Roundup Ready Soybeans', so-called because they are engineered for use with Monsanto's herbicide, Roundup. The new soya contains a gene from a bacterium which makes it resistant to the herbicide.