Consumers' Acceptance of (and Resistance to) Genetically Modified Foods in High‐Income Countries: Effects of Labels and Information in an Uncertain Environment

The use of modern biotechnology to create genetically modified products has been haled by some but scorned by others.In crop improvement, conventional plant breeding is a 20th century phenomenon.Gene exchanges occur primarily in sexually compatible species, and they are largely crosses.Breeders select primarily on observable attributes, for example, grain yield, disease or pest resistance, but there is little DNA knowledge (Lamkey).In contrast, modern biotechnology is the human mediated insertion of a synthetic gene(s) into an organism.The technique for recombinant DNA was discovered by Cohen and Boyer in 1973.The Cohen-Boyer patent for genesplicing technology was awarded in 1980, and it enabled the "gene revolution" of the 1990s.Transfers of genes are largely between sexually incompatible species.Gene(s) produce(s) proteins of interest, which are input/output traits.These transfers are sometimes said to be "precise," because the origin of the trait is known through DNA sequencing.Gene insertion is, however, at a random location by a gene gun or virus, and scientists cannot be certain of the ex-Fellows Panel.