FACTBOX - What is Genetic Modification?
Date: 08-Feb-06
Country: WORLD
- Genetic modification is a technique where individual genes can be copied and transferred to another living organism. It changes the genetic makeup of a plant by adding or removing specific characteristics.
- GMO crops are plants that have been genetically altered to improve resistance to diseases caused by insects or viruses and increase tolerance to herbicides or extreme weather conditions.
- So-called second-generation GMO’s are now being developed, mostly by biotech companies in North America, that aim to boost yields and give extra nutritional value in areas like vitamins.
- One of the best-known examples of a first-generation GMO is modified soy which is tolerant to the herbicide glyphosate. It allows for better weed control and fewer lost plants.
- Supporters of GMO technology say it will lower costs, increase yields, decrease the need for chemicals and help to feed a hungry world.
- But biotech's opponents are concerned about the health risks and the threat to the environment, saying not enough studies have been done to prove the technology is safe and will not harm natural species.
- The United States is the world leader in biotech crops, with gene-spliced varieties accounting for 75 percent of US soybeans, 71 percent of cotton and 34 percent of corn.
- During its unofficial GMO moratorium, the European Union did not allow the experimental or commercial growth of any new gene crops after October 1998 - when 18 GMO plant varieties had been approved, including maize, rapeseed, chicory and soybeans.
- The moratorium was effectively lifted in May 2004 when the European Commission, exercised its legal right to act on behalf of the EU's member states and approved imports of a canned GMO sweetcorn made by Swiss agrochemicals giant Syngenta.
- European consumer fears grew in the late 1990’s, EU states including Austria, France, Greece, Italy and Luxembourg banned a series of GMO crops and foods that had already won EU approval.
- EU governments also restricted GMO field trials, and between 1998 and 2002 the number of GMO crop trials dropped by nearly 90 percent.
- In 2003, the United States, with Argentina and Canada, decided to challenge the EU's de facto biotech ban at the World Trade Organization. The three countries, all major growers of GMO crops, said there was no scientific basis for the EU moratorium and that it was illegal.
