Agricultural biotechnology after 20 years: What has it achieved?

The first genetically engineered (GE) food crops were planted experimentally in the early 1980's, and GE corn and soybeans have been available commercially since the mid-1990s. Some twenty years after its debut, it is possible to assess whether agricultural technology has lived up to the extravagant promises made by the industry. A critical review of the record reveals that the technology's accomplishments outside the arena of scientific research have been modest, at best. In the United States, engineered corn and soybeans are primarily used as processed food ingredients (e.g., high fructose corn syrup, soybean oil) and feed inputs for meat and dairy production. The two successful GE traits–herbicide tolerance and insect resistance—have reaped benefits for the seed developers and some farmers, but promised reductions in overall pesticide use from adoption of GE crops have not materialized. This presentation will provide a brief history of agricultural biotechnology and compare the promises of agricultural biotechnology in the early 1980's to what has been accomplished. It will examine the industry's successes as well as examples of consumer, environmental, and nutritional benefits that have not emerged. It will also give an overview of public investment (particularly by the U.S. Department of Agriculture) in GE technologies versus organic research, traditional breeding, and other non-GE technologies.