Over the past 16 years it has become possible to isolate genes from any class of living organism and introduce them into most of our crop plants. This provides a wider choice of genes for crop improvement than is available by conventional plant breeding. International studies worldwide on genome organization, genetic mapping, and the isolation of genes are providing many new opportunities to modify crops. In 1999, there were almost 40 million hectares of transgenic crops grown across the world (James 1999). Although there is considerable optimism about the future prospects for transgenic crops among the scientific and plant breeding community, public concerns are being expressed in some countries. The assessment and potential impact of transgenic crops has been discussed in scientific publications and at conferences for over a decade, but now the subject is a major focus of pressure groups, with vandalism of transgenic field plots in some countries and substantial amounts of money being spent internationally on opposition. The aim of this paper is to give a perspective on current concerns.
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Phillip J. Dale (1999) studied this question.