Genetic resources provided by genetic engineering

Abstract

The approach to genetic modification in plant breeding and the coexistence of traditional and biotech crops is not uniform all over the world. While in the U.S. the ratio of the GM-production reached 30-40%, from which it made no longer sense to differentiate between GM and conventional, in Europe there is great resistance to the new technology. Standpoints are also diverse about the environmental advantages, mainly knowing the facts that e.g. the tendency of herbicide/insecticide consumption in some places was the opposite than expected (increased) or the potential health risks possibly caused by GM foodstuffs. In Hungary the possible future application of GM plants has more disadvantages just right now instead of providing benefits to farmers from environmental, ecological and economical point of view. It seems that consensus is still far away, the debates will go on; the counterparts will abide by their opinions for a long time.