ABSTRACT
In 2003, about 167 million acres (67.7 million hectares [ha]) grown byseven million farmers in 18 countries were planted with transgeniccrops, the principal ones being herbicide-and insecticide-resistant soybeans, corn, cotton, and canola. Other crops grown commercially or field-tested are sweet potato resistant feathery mottle virus, which can reduce yields by 20-80% thus decimating most of the African harvest, rice with increased iron and vitamins that may alleviate chronic malnutrition in Asian countries, and a variety of plants able to survive weather extremes. In 2003, countries that grew 99% of the global transgenic crops were the US (63%), Argentina (21%), Canada (6%), Brazil (4%), China (4%), and South Africa (1%). Although growth is expected to plateau in industrialized countries, it is gradually increasing in developing countries. The next decade is anticipated to witness an exponential progress in GM (genetically modified) product development as researchers gain increasing and unprecedented access to genomic resources that are applicable to organisms beyond the scope of individual projects (http:/www.ornl.gov/sci/ techresources/Human_Genome/ elsi/gmfood. shtml).
