A major new report into the use and effect of genetically modified (GM) crops has revealed key findings into the impact on yields, human health and the environment.
According to the study, from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, there is “no evidence” that GM food harms human health in the short-term, although it acknowledged that there have been no long-term studies into this link.
The study also claimed to have found no proof that GM cotton, soybean and maize crops in the US have boosted yields since being introduced. Elsewhere across the world, there were “favourable economic outcomes” for producers.
In addition, evolved resistance to current GM characteristics in crops is a major agricultural problem, the study said, with “damaging” levels of resistance in some insects where insect-resistant crops were planted but management strategies were not followed.
The report reviewed 900 former papers on GM on the development, use, and effects of GM maize, soybean, and cotton, which account for almost all commercial GM crops. It recommended regulations for new GM varieties should focus on plant characteristics, rather than the process by which they're developed: “It's feasible emerging genetic-engineering technologies will speed the rate of increase in yield, but this is not certain, so the committee recommends funding of diverse approaches for increasing and stabilising crop yield,” it advised.
Chief science adviser for the NFU, Helen Ferrier, said the report’s most significant finding is that, after 20 years of cultivation, there is no evidence of any risks to human health from GM, and no evidence of environmental problems: “No robust science has ever suggested GM food is harmful to health,' she said. 'Indeed, biotechnology can be used to make food safer and more nutritious.
“As with all crops, the farming system has to be managed well and in an integrated way to ensure pest and weed resistance is mitigated.'
Emma Hockridge, head of policy at the Soil Association, said: “The report strongly rebuts the argument that GM crops are needed to feed the world by concluding that there's no evidence that they have changed the rate of increase in yields. Despite many years of huge investment, the only genetically-engineered characteristics that have been put into widespread use are those that allow a crop to withstand the application of a herbicide or be toxic to pests,' she added.
“This detailed report highlights that GM is an old and failing technology. Despite huge promises of all kinds of benefits, and many years of huge investment, the only genetically engineered characteristics that have been put into widespread use are those that allow a crop to withstand the application of a herbicide or be toxic to insect pests. The only commercial GM crops are still just maize, soybean and cotton.'
