Plant & Animal Genome VII Conference Plant & Animal Genome VII Conference
S4
Biotechnology is moving like a steamroller through US agriculture. During the
summer of 1998, around 45 million acres of US farmland were planted in
genetically engineered crops, primarily insect- or herbicide-tolerant versions
of corn and soybeans. Companies committed to the biotechnology have undergone a
wave of consolidation and vertical integration and are now poised to transform
and control much of the global food system. The biotechnology revolution was
sold as a green technology promising enormous benefits for the consumers and the
environment. Now that agricultural biotechnology is enjoying commercial
success, it is clear that the industry is benefitting, but what about consumers
and the environment? In answering this question, this talk will consider issues
surrounding monopoly control of the seed industry, consumer choice, and
environmental risks of engineered crops, including resistance to Bt toxin and
outcrossing between genetically engineered crops and their relatives.