Genetically Modified Foods -- Feed the
World If you want to spark a heated debate at a dinner
party, bring up the topic about genetically modified foods. For many people, the
concept of genetically altered, high-tech crop production raises all kinds of
environmental, health, safety and ethical questions. Particularly in countries
with long agrarian traditions -- and vocal green lobbies -- the idea seems
against nature. In fact, genetically modified foods are already
yew much a part of our lives. A third of the corn and more than half the
soybeans and cotton grown in the US last year were the product of biotechnology,
according to the Department of Agriculture. More than 65 million acres of
genetically modified crops will be planted in the US this year. The genetic is
out of the bottle. Yet there are clearly some very real issues
that, need to be resolved, lake any new product entering the food chain,
genetically modified foods must be subjected to rigorous testing. In wealthy
count, des, the debate about biotech is tempered by the fact that we have a rich
array of foods to choose from -- and a supply that far exceeds our needs. In
developing countries desperate to feed fast-growing and underfed populations;
the issue is simpler and much more urgent: Do the benefits of biotech outweigh
the risks The statistics on population growth and hunger are
disturbing. Last year the world’s population reached 6 billion. And by 2050, the
UN estimates, it will be probably near 9 billion. Almost all that growth will
occur in developing countries. At the same time, the world’s available
cultivable land per person is declining. Arable land has declined steadily since
1960 and will decrease by half over the next 50 years, according to the
International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications
(ISAAA). How can biotech help Biotechnologists have
developed genetically modified rice that is fortified with
beta-carotene(β-胡萝卜素)—which the body converts into vitamin A -- and additional
iron, mid they are working on other kinds of nutritionally improved crops.
Biotech can also improve farming productivity in places where food shortages are
caused by crop damage attribution to pests, drought, poor soil and crop viruses,
bacteria or fungi (真菌). Damage caused by pests is incredible.
The European corn borer, for example, destroys 40 million tons of the world’s
corn crops annual]y, about 7% of the total. Incorporating pest-resistant genes
into seeds can help restore the balance. In trials of pest-resistant cotton in
Africa, yields have increased significantly. So far, fears that genetically
modified, pest-resistant crops might kill good insects as well as bad appear
unfounded. Viruses often cause massive failure in staple crops
in developing countries. Two years ago, Africa lost more than half its
cassava(树薯) crop --- a key source of calories -- to the mosaic virus.
Genetically modified, virus-resistant crops can reduce that damage, as can
drought-tolerant seeds in regions where water shortages limit the amount of land
under cultivation. Biotech can also help solve the problem of soil that contains
excess aluminum, which can damage roots and cause many staple-crop failures. A
gene that helps neutralize aluminum toxicity(毒性) in rice has been
identified. Many scientists believe biotech could raise overall
crop productivity in developing countries as much as 25% and help prevent the
loss of those crops after they are harvested. Yet for all that
promise, biotech is far from being the whole answer. In developing countries,
lost crops are only one cause of hunger. Poverty plays the largest role. Today
more than I billion people around the globe live on less than I dollar a day.
Making genetically modified crops available will not reduce hunger if farmers
cannot afford to grow them or if the local population cannot afford to buy the
food those farmers produce. Biotech has its own "distribution"
problems. Private-sector biotech companies in the rich countries carry out much
of the leading-edge research on genetically modified crops. Their products are
often too costly for poor farmers in the developing world, and many of those
products won’t even reach the regions where they are most needed. Biotech firms
have a strong financial incentive to target rich markets first in order to help
them rapidly recoup the high costs of product development. But some of these
companies are responding to needs of poor countries. More and
more biotech research is being carried out in developing countries. But to
increase the impact of genetic research on tile food production of those
countries, there is a need for better collaboration between government agencies
-- both local and in developed countries -- and private biotech firms. The
ISAAA, for example, is successfully partnering with the US Agency for
International Development, local researches and private biotech companies to
find and deliver biotech solutions for farmers in developing
countries. Will "Franken-foods" feed the world
Biotech is not a panacea(治百病的药), but it does promise to transform
agriculture in many developing countries. If that promise is not fulfilled, the
real losers will be their people, who could suffer for years to come.
The world seems increasingly to have been divided into those who favor
genetically modified (GM) foods and those who fear them. Advocates assert that
growing genetically altered crops can be kinder to the environment and that
eating foods from those plants is perfectly safe. And, they say, genetic
engineering -- which can induce plants to grow in poor soils or to produce more
nutritious foods -- will soon become an essential tool for helping to feed the
world’s burgeoning(迅速发展的) population. Skeptics contend that genetically modified
crops could pose unique risks to the environment and to health -- risks too
troubling to accept placidly. Taking that view, many European countries are
restricting the planting and importation of genetically modified agricultural
products. Much of the debate hinges on perceptions of safety. But what exactly
does recent scientific research say about the hazards Two years
ago in Edinburgh, Scotland, eco-vandals stormed a field, crushing canola plants.
Last year in Maine, midnight raiders hacked down more than 3,000 experimental
poplar trees. And in San Diego, protesters smashed sorghum and sprayed paint
over greenhouse walls. This far-flung outrage took aim at
genetically modified crops. But the protests backfired: all the destroyed plants
were conventionally bred. In each case, activists mistook ordinary plants for
genetically modified varieties. It’s easy to understand why. In
a way, genetically modified crops -- now on some 109 million acres of farmland
worldwide -- are invisible. You can’t see, taste or touch a gene inserted into a
plant or sense its effects on the environment. You can’t tell, just by looking,
whether pollen containing a foreign gene can poison butterflies or fertilize
plants miles away. That invisibility is precisely what worries people. How,
exactly, will genetically modified crops affect the environment -- and when will
we notice Advocates of genetically modified or transgenic crops
say the plants will benefit the environment by requiring fewer toxic pesticides
than conventional crops. But critics fear the potential risks and wonder how big
the benefits really are. "We have so many questions about these plants," remarks
Guenther Stotzky, a soil microbiologist at New York University. "There’s a lot
we don’t know and need to find out." As genetically modified
crops multiply in the landscape, unprecedented numbers of researchers have
started fanning into the fields to get the missing information. Some of their
recent findings are reassuring; others suggest a need for vigilance. The most important factor that leads to hunger in developing countries is ______.