ABSTRACT
Throughout the world there has been an intensifying debate about the risks of biotechnology and of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) designed for agricultural use in particular. Most of the first GMOs to be commercialized were herbicide-tolerant or insect-protected crops; many other GMOs are near or at the commercial stage, including virus-resistant crops, viral insecticides, and nitrogen-fixing microbes. In the public debate over genetically modified (GM) crops, economic and environmental issues have been linked in various ways. In dispute is whether GM crops may mitigate the harmful effects of intensive monoculture – or may inadvertently perpetuate them. (For detailed references, see Levidow and Tait, 1991; Levidow, 1996.)
