ABSTRACT
Controversies over scientic issues have often been initiated by sensational media reports of research that capture the imagination of the public. Before the application of biotechnology, the biology of crop plants had never been the focus of controversy and debate. But with recent attention drawn to plausible harm to foodstuffs and the environment, the previously unheralded subject of agriculture has been transformed into media fodder. We wish to illuminate the facts and discuss the research behind the issues by focusing on a few timely plant biotechnology controversies. Fortunately, it seems that, in the past few years, media coverage of plant biotechnology has been moving toward more objectivity and less sensationalism, and the expectation of it as a technology and industry has become more mature (Stewart and Littmann, 2008).
