ABSTRACT
Transatlantic differences on research policy and the adoption of particular applications of biotechnology have been a feature of the past decade. While federal funding for stem cell research is effectively banned in the US, with researchers limited to a few existing cell lines, in some European countries, for example the UK, it is progressing with Government support. However, it is with agricultural and food biotechnologies that the transatlantic differences have been most pronounced and most controversial. The US and Canada have millions of hectares cultivating various genetically modified (GM) commodity crops such as soya, canola and maize, and in the supermarkets half the products have GM ingredients. In Europe, by contrast, research on GM crops has been largely stalled and, with the exception of Spain, the continent is more or less a GM-free zone.
