24.06.2008 | permalink
My chief reason for engaging in this debate concerns the Third World. While there is little calorie malnutrition except in areas of disaster or conflict, there is still malnutrition in quality of food. This involves content of protein and essential amino acids as well as micronutrients such as vitamin A, iron and iodine. GM technology offers the hope of devising staple crops richer in these essential constituents. Ought we to constrain the research that brings these about? The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, for one, thinks not. And Monsanto believes that GM technology offers the hope of doubled crop yields per hectare of arable land. A hungry world needs such research.