How common are genetically engineered crops around the world now?
Pamela: Every time a GE crop has been approved for use, farmers have embraced it and the GE acreage for each crop has quickly grown to 50 to 90 percent of the total acreage. According to a recent article in Science magazine, the top producer is currently the United States with 57 million hectares; the next is Argentina with 20 million hectares; and then Brazil with 15 million hectares. These three are followed by Canada, India, China, Paraguay, and South Africa. Globally, are we using the breadth of what’s scientifically possible or just focusing on modifying a few specific traits? Pamela: There are essentially just two traits out there: herbicide resistance and insect resistance. Those two have been put mainly in soybeans, corn, and cotton. We are just at the tip of an enormous iceberg of possibility. Raoul: Flood resistance, drought tolerance, frost tolerance, salt tolerance—all of these could potentially be put into crops to increase yields. I’m particularly interested in crops resi
