English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Free Plan

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

seems puzzling. Why would anyone opposeGM food and animal feed (herein called GM food)produced using the tools of agricultural biotechnology?The answers behind this controversy are complicated andvaried [1, 2]. The arguments against GM food range fromthe ethical and religious to concerns over inherent orpotential risks to health and safety, and the environmentalimpact such technologies may have. Intellectual propertyrights and control over seeds by multinational corporationsalso bring out the ire of opposition groups [1]. Thearguments in support of GM food range from the ethicaland practical—how will we feed the world without GMfood and animal feed?—to the scientific in which evidenceis collected to address some of the opposition’s concernsand to fill in gaps in our knowledge. Despite the concernsover GM food, the scope and number of GM crops plantedeach year continues to grow, and, interestingly, has madethe adoption of GM seeds one of the most rapidly adoptedfarming technologies ever (Ref. [3] and Fig. 1). Therefore,it is reasonable to assume that agricultural biotechnologywill continue to be adopted by farmers and thus thecontroversy will continue. It is also reasonable to assumethat agricultural biotechnology will be introduced to newcountries around the world including many developingcountries as one component of agricultural innovation.Agricultural innovation, in the broadest sense, potentiallycan assist in meeting the first of the United Nation’sMillennium Development Goals (MGD)—to reduce by halfthe number of people in extreme poverty and hunger by 2015[4]. This MGD goal may be partially addressed by focusingon agricultural needs such as sufficient food production,access to water for agricultural purposes, and improved foodquality [5]. Agricultural biotechnology has the potential toaddress some of these needs [6]. Recently, a World Bankreport pointed out that science and technology can play a rolein helping to improve the food security and alleviation ofpoverty of the 600 million rural poor in the developingnations [7]. But this report, while acknowledging the greatpromise of agricultural biotechnology, also acknowledges thecontroversial nature of agricultural biotechnology through theproduction of GM food [7]. GM food has become a pawn indebates over trade and globalization and other issues whichaffect international development [8]. Whether GM crops willplay a role in agricultural development, especially in thedeveloping world, seems mixed and dependent upon thepublic investment in such work [5, 7]. China has made amajor commitment to investment in government-basedagricultural biotechnology and has made much progress,especially in cotton production, and therefore serves as agood case study for the benefits of GM crops in agriculturalinnovation and development [8, 9].Agricultural innovation must also address climatechange and ecosystem services issues. Production of foodcrops using less energy, less water, and fewer chemicalinputs—such as energy-intensive fertilizer— are going tobe important in order to reduce carbon emissions [10] and

Genetically modified food from crops: progress, pawns, and possibilities