Pharming: the food industry says genetically modified food is perfectly safe; consumers, environmentalists, and many others aren't so sure. (Food - GM Food).(Statistical Data Included)

Canada and the World Backgrounder, March, 2002

Traditional plant genetics swaps genes between similar species, so the process is more like natural selection. Genetic engineering allows genes from any plant or organism to be inserted into any other plant or organism, by-passing natural reproductive barriers between species. For example, fish genes have been inserted into a tomato to make the tomato more durable, and resistant to cold. Similarly, genetic engineering is being used to make plants and animals more resistant to disease and insects, and chemicals. This means that farmers can douse their crops with stronger and more effective pesticides and herbicides.

The first generation GM crops focussed on increasing production and lowering costs. In the mid-1990s, the cultivation of virus-, insect-, and...

Premium Content Partnership | HighBeam Research provides an in-depth online archive library of reference works. HighBeam Research

 

BNET TalkbackShare your ideas and expertise on this topic

Please add your comment:

  1. You are currently: a Guest |
  2.  

Basic HTML tags that work in comments are: bold (<b></b>), italic (<i></i>), underline (<u></u>), and hyperlink (<a href></a)

advertisement
advertisement
  • Click Here
  • Click Here
  • Click Here
advertisement
Click Here