Is there a likely solution in sight for hunger? “I now say that the world has the technology—either available or well advance in the research pipeline—to feed on a sustainable basis a population of 10 billion people,” Nobel Peace Prize winner Norman Borlaug pointed out. “The more pertinent question today is whether farmers and ranchers will be permitted to use this new technology?”
Borlaug, touted to be the “Man Who Saved A Billion Lives,” was referring to biotechnology. “While the affluent nations can certainly afford to adopt ultra-low risk positions, and pay more for food produced by the so-called organic methods, the 1 billion chronically undernourished people of the low income, food-deficit nations cannot,” the American agronomist deplored.
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Genetic engineering, the most controversial among the tools, is the manipulation, introduction and expression of specific genes or DNA in the target organisms. This is the method used in developing genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
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But the question is: are biotech crops safe to eat?
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A 2008 review published by the Royal Society of Medicine noted that transgenic foods have been eaten by millions of people worldwide for over 15 years, with no reports of ill effects. Likewise, a 2004 report from the US National Academies of Sciences stated: “To date, no adverse health effects attributed to genetic engineering have been documented in the human population.”
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