The benefits of GM technology have recently been seen by India in the production of cotton3. The problems seen by cotton farmers in India used to be the slow increase in diseases that affected the yield and quality of the cotton they produced. Since the introduction of Bt Cotton, which has the Bt Toxin genetically implanted into the seeds, the yield and quality have increased dramatically due to the toxin killing the caterpillars and moths that fed on the crops and the improved resistance to certain diseases seen before the introduction of the GM crops. The improved resistance to pests means that the crops are only sprayed once or twice per harvest, rather than more times with non-genetically modified crops. This has had a positive effect upon the environment, because the plants own resistance means that the targeting of pests is more refined and harmless animals such as ladybirds and small animals living or near the crop fields are not interfered with. This use of GM technology is economically good for developing countries and environmentally friendly to habitats that can be affected by the use of various pesticides.
There is however much opposition to the use of Genetic Engineering of crops and unwillingness to accept them has been shown by various scientists and protestors across the globe. This includes scientists disproving any positive news about GM Technology and protestors destroying GM crops all over the world, this of which I believe makes it difficult to find out whether the technology is actually harmful. Even though nothing has been proved, many supermarkets have now reduced the selling of GM products to an extremely small amount of products, these mostly being tomato puree, Soya and maize and they still have to place a non-GM product of that kind nearby4. One cause of this movement could be the recent story covered by The Independent about the damaging effects of GM crops on the environment5. It states that a court settlement has "sealed the fate of GM in the UK - at least in the foreseeable future. They showed the ultra-powerful weed killers that the crops are engineered to tolerate would bring about further damage to a countryside already devastated by intensive farming." This has caused many large companies to find other products rather than having to go through "extensive testing process - and public opposition - that bringing a GM crop to market in Britain would involve." This protest was reported in The Grocer (28 August) about GM protests in Slovakia against the Supermarket Tesco who did not assure Slovakians that Tesco brand food was non-GM. Also, the reports in newspapers of "Destruction of the only experimental crop of genetically modified coffee ' (1 September '04 AFP) and 'GM protesters target supermarket ' (1 7 July '04 BBC News) all makes it easier if the companies involved with selling or experimenting on GM crops gave up trying to promote the process positively This is what is starting to happen with the companies, "Biotech firm rejects GM crop ' (19 March '04 FoE) and ' UK Firms drop GMO Study, Seek to Boost Regular Seed' (10 March '04 Reuters) are all signs of the GM trade receding.
The use of GM crops in the UK has not taken hold and been accepted, and
Genetically Modified crops have never been grown in the UK for any commercial
use. Scientific reports into me effects of GM crops on the environment have been
hampered by protestors, but findings have pointed to the use of GM technology in the
UK to be dangerous and to have unknown effects on future generations of humans,
direct or indirect. The Independent on 21st November 2004 finally confirmed that the use and growth of GM crops in the UK is unlikely to happen in the near future6. One of the largest companies involved in GM technology, Bayer, stated 'it would not even try to carry out trials in Britain until the Government took strong measures to stop protesters pulling up the plants. And ministers now believe that there is no market for the crops, so they would not be grown even if approval were granted'. This directly states that it has become too difficult to cultivate a GM crop within the UK and that there would not be a market to cater for the GM crops produced, therefore decreasing the likelihood of its use in UK food products. These measures taken clearly show that protests against the use of GM crops have hindered the use and production of the Genetically Engineered products in the UK. Even though other countries have not had GM products so clearly dismissed they do still get protests and unwanted attention for the use of them, but before any known effects of certain crops, like allergic skin reactions to the BT crops of corn, the use of them in those countries had already been undertaken.
The future use of GM technology does not look as promising as when it was released as a new technique in the 1990's. It was thought by many scientists that the use of these techniques could possibly 'end world hunger' and that it could mean better quality crops, more money for what farmers produce, and therefore helping to poverty in the agricultural community. Fears of many companies involved in the GM industry are starting to unfold. From looking at all sides of the argument I believe that the use of GM products in the UK and in an ever increasing number of countries would need to be confirmed as a safe way to produce products and crops. They would need to be proved that they do not harm humans and the environment in which they are grown in. This factor has resulted in the use of Genetic Engineering to be halted at the rate it is now and will therefore not become widely used for many years to come. People’s perceptions of the products are slanted. I personally feel the foods will not be accepted by people for many years, due to these particular arguments and the negatives at the moment definitely outweigh the benefits for the use of GM technology.
Bibliography
(1) http://www.ncbe.reading.ac.uk/NCBE/GMFOOD/menu.html - General GM information.
(2) http://www.isaaa.org/kc/CBTNews/press release/briefs32/figures/Biotechmap_acreage.jpg - Facts of GM countries.
(3) New Scientist, 19th February 2005, India special: Embracing GM crops.
(4) http://www.food.gov.uk/gmdebate/aboutgm/108374 - Facts on GM products in stores.
(5) The Independent, 22nd March 2005, The end for GM crops: Final British trial confirms threat to wildlife.
(6) http://www.connectotel.com/gmfood/
