Genetically modified (GM) food includes crops, vegetables and fruit that have been created using genetic engineering methods. The principle aim with GM food is to combine desirable genes from various species to create new genetically-altered crosses with enhanced nutritional, productive and ecological value. This differs from traditional breeding in that genetic transference between unrelated species does not occur biologically in nature.
This process of combining inter-species genes, which is called recombinant DNA technology, does not have the checks and balances that are imposed by nature in traditional breeding. Without these, there is a risk of genetic instability. This means that no one can make any accurate predictions about the long term effects of GM foodstuffs on human beings and the environment. Extensive testing in this regard is either very expensive or impractical, and there is still a great deal in genetics that scientists have not properly understood.
This is the crux of the matter in the ongoing debate of pros and cons of GM food. Food is an emotional topic. It matters a great deal to all of us. We are what we eat after all. The subject is also of vested interest for the corporations that manufacture GM seeds and agricultural technologies. The arguments are intense and passionate, and what follows is a summary of the views put forward by those that see benefits in genetically engineering foods and those that see only dangers in such genetic modification.