[Editor’s note: Listen to the full interview here.]
Genetically modified crops may be in regular use by farmers in the United States, but introducing the food to Europe has provoked opposition, notably from campaigners who argue it is a danger to human health. GM crops are banned in France and Germany.
Opponents are worried about the threat to traditional seeds, a lack of long-term impact studies and fears about the influence of multi-national food businesses.
Regulators in Europe are trying to convince consumers that GM crops are safe and the UK has decided to allow a strain of genetically modified wheat to be grown in a field trial this year. Scientists have engineered the plant to make better use of sunlight, which has boosted the crop yield by 40% in greenhouse trials.
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So is the UK moving closer to encouraging farmers to grow GM crops?
We hear from Dr Malcolm Hawkesford, at Rothamsted Research, the company that has developed the wheat and Liz O’Neill, a director of GM Freeze, which campaigns against genetically modified crops.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: Is genetically modified wheat safe?
