It's the cavemen saving seeds of a high-yielding plant. It's Gregor Mendel, the father of genetics, cross-pollinating his garden peas.
Food safety is of great concern to the general public.
So when new technology like genetic engineering, which plays with the food items on your local grocer's shelves, is introduced, the public is going to be very concerned. It is common practice for the general public to fear scientific innovations as soon as the story hits newsstands. We have seen it with the birth of the microwave, the television, the airplane, and now genetic engineering. With the rise of genetic engineering, another modern science invention, consumers were skeptical - and are still very uncertain of the consequences of the science. Since the agricultural revolution 10,000 years ago, humans have cultivated plants so that they grow with desired characteristics.