How GM technology has developed

People have been improving crops through selective breeding for many thousands of years. Agricultural biotechnology or the genetic engineering of plants now allows that time-consuming process to be accelerated and new traits from unrelated species to be introduced.

Genetic engineering begun in the late 1970s and the first generation of crops were modified to be pest, disease or herbicide resistant. The types of crops included soya, wheat, corn (maize), oilseed rape (canola), cotton, sugar beet, potatoes, tomatoes and peas.

GM in the UK
Between 1999-2003, our member companies supplied the seed for the UK Government’s programme of Farm Scale Evaluations (FSEs) – the largest study of their kind ever undertaken, in which insects, other small animals and weeds were assessed in side-by-side GM/non-GM plots at 270 sites around the UK.

The study was assessed by the Government’s Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE), an independent panel of leading scientists, and concluded there is no risk to human or animal health from growing GM crops. In addition the flexibility of GM crops allows them to be grown in a way that can benefit the environment.

European law requires that food containing all GM products and ingredients is labelled if they account for 0.9% of the total. To achieve this and allow for GM and non-GM crops being grown in the same area, the Government is currently seeking to establish ‘coexistence’ guidelines.

In 2007, the first GM field trial took place in the UK for four years. The trial tested potato varieties that have been genetically modified to be resistant to the potentially devastating late blight potato fungus, Phytophthora infestans, which damages a significant proportion of British potatoes every year, and was the cause of the potato famines of the nineteenth century.

GM around the world
GM crops are now grown extensively throughout the world. Data released by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) in January 2007 showed that in 2006, over 10 million farmers, in 22 countries around the world, sowed 252 million acres (102 million hectares) of GM crops. Amongst them were six European Union member states: France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Other countries include the US, Canada, Brazil, China, India, Argentina, South Africa and Australia.

To download an abc briefing note that outlines the current and potential future benefits of GM in relation to food security, climate change and developing nations' economic progress, please
click here.