The Genetically Modified Crop Game

Essay by peace09University, Bachelor'sF, February 2004

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Introduction

Walter Isaacson, in his Time magazine article "The Biotech Century" labeled the 2000s as the 'biotech century' and highlighted the imminent revolution of biotechnology and what it held for the twenty-first century . Today, the fruits of his seeds of foresight are just beginning to materialise.

The term 'biotechnology' spans across a spectrum of industries and dabbles into various sensitive issues like cloning, genetically modified food and etc. In essence, biotechnology is the application of science and engineering to the direct or indirect use of living organisms, or parts or products of living organisms, in their natural or modified forms .

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), a United Nations Agency defines biotechnology as any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms or derivatives thereof to make or modify product or processes for specific uses . These scientific advances have culminated in the genetic engineering or modification of crops which gives birth to the term; Genetically Modified (hereafter known as GM) Crops.

Asia's Food and Agricultural Challenges

The Asian Continent has evolved significantly in the past three decades and is set for further rapid evolution in the next two or three decades. These changes nonetheless brings with them impending challenges for the continent.

The world's most populous countries; namely China and India together with the rest of the countries in Asia are set to soar even further in terms of birth and population mass. The United Nations estimates that the population in Asia will come to a massive seven billion by 2050. This translates into food scarcity for the poor in Asia and Asia at large.

In term of economic activity, Asia has undergone massive transition in terms of industrialization and urbanization in the later half of the twenty-first century. This growth in urbanization has necessitated technological means...