ABSTRACT
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, rapid advances in molecular biology and related fields led many scientists to predict that their application in agriculture would result in significant productivity gains and would usher in the ‘Gene Revolution’. It was felt that tools of biotechnology would allow scientists to develop novel crop and animal technologies that would not have been possible through conventional methods. Genetically modified (GM) crops would not only overcome the yield plateau that had been reached for many major crops in the period after the Green Revolution, but also could be engineered to be higher quality and more nutritious.
