Public Policy and Animal Biotechnology in the 1990 s : Challenges and Opportunities

American agriculture has enjoyed momentous success over the past 50 years as measured by the quantity, quality, variety and cost of food and fiber. In the years proceeding World War II, the U.S. agricultural sector has experienced a significantly high rate of growth in productivity—a level more than three times the magnitude of the nonfarm industrial sector. Into this agricultural system with all its strengths, complexities and challenges—both biological and political—comes biotechnology. Because of its importance to increased competitiveness in today’s expanding global economy, biotechnology is viewed as one of the keys to U.S. agriculture’s continued success in the years ahead. Moreover, it is predicted that the world’s population will increase at a rate of approximately 90 million people annually. At this rate, the current global population of just over five billion is expected to double during the next century. World hunger and malnutrition will not be simply problems of inequitable distribution. Expanded food production will be essential to accommodate the nutritional needs of this rapidly growing global population. Herein lies one of biotechnology’s most pressing demands.