Who will regulate genetic engineering?
The successful manipulation of plant and animal genes to enhance a variety of agricultural products has rapidly accelerated since the mid-1980s. Most of the research and development has taken place in the industrialized world in the private sector. Large chemical companies and agribusiness firms have discovered that these genetic alterations can dramatically increase the output of products such as wheat, rice, and milk while increasing their nutritional value. Both the products and the technologies developed are subject to mechanisms to protect intellectual property rights, such as patents. Disputes over the safety of these products threaten to disrupt agricultural trade between the United States and Europe. Research and development of transgenic plants has focused on crops, cropping conditions, and markets of the industrialized countries and, to a lesser extent, of large-scale farms in higher income developing countries. About 75% of the area sown to transgenic crops is located in the
