What is the future for GM foods likely to be?
This is the one question that no-one can answer at present. World production of GM food crops has plateaued and attitudes in the West are hardening against GM foods. Perhaps it was unfortunate that the first GM foods had little in the way of nutritional benefits, and that the companies who produced them did not realise how strongly the public would resist having novel foods made available without adequate labelling. But the world’s human population is already over 6 billion, and is increasing at an estimated rate of about 80 million per annum. The world’s agricultural land is, of course, not expanding. In fact, much of the arable land is being lost to food production because of salination, desertification, erosion and nutrient depletion of soils. To be able to feed the estimated 8-9 billion people who will be alive in 2050, new and sustainable ways of producing food must be found. Some recent developments in GM suggest the possibility that this new form of biotechnology may contribute
