Since the last century, humans have crossbred plants to make them tastier or hardier or to give them some other desired quality. In the last 20 years, new DNA technology has given researchers the ability to remove individual genes from one species to insert them into another. In Europe, the backlash against GM food over the past few years has reached the fervor once reserved for nuclear power plants. Wittenberg serves on a U.S. Department of Agriculture advisory committee on agricultural biotechnology. Officials at the World Health Organization said they have yet to develop a blanket policy on whether biotech crops could help or harm world crops.
Many farmers fear a consumer backlash.
The largest U.S. farm group agreed recently to push food regulators to adopt a single approval process for both animals and humans when evaluating GM crop seeds to prevent massive recalls like the one related to StarLink biotech corn. They also called for tags on seed bags to guarantee seed purity. StarLink somehow made its way into human food supplies even though the corn variety has not been approved for human consumption due to questions that one of its biotech proteins might be allergenic. The biotech industry, however, insists there's no need for concern. Last year alone, there were over 100 million acres of these crops grown all over the world and in many continents.