Biotech
Primer

Plants can be modified to bring about many types of changes which can be of benefit to consumers, the food industry, farmers and people in the developing world. Genetic modification can also contribute towards a more sustainable form of agriculture and bring environmental benefits.

• Fruit and vegetables can be modified to improve their taste and appearance. This means being able to provide consumers with the consistently high quality fresh produce they demand.

• Improvements can be made to the nutritional qualities of certain plants. For example, oil seed, from which some cooking oils are made, can be developed so that the oil has a reduced saturated fat content.

• Products can be modified in ways which will make it easier and cheaper to process them. For example, the modification of tomatoes to delay ripening has led to cheaper tomato puree.

• Plants can be modified to increase their ability to fight insects, disease and weeds, all of which can destroy or seriously damage crops. This not only increases the yield of these crops, but also reduces the need for pesticides.

• Plants can be modified to be resistant to drought or to grow in difficult conditions. This will have many benefits for parts of the world where the demand for food is increasing significantly and there is not enough good arable land.