Transgenic Plants and World Agriculture

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. and Third World Academy of Sciences. The individual members of the working group are listed at the end of this report. The co-sponsoring academies wish to thank the Royal Society of London for providing staff coordination, meeting facilities, and travel support for academy delegates. Academy of Sciences has discussed this report and commends it to interested parties. transgenic Information about the participating academies is available at http:// www.interacademies.net iii D PREFACE uring the 21st century, humankind will be confronted with an extraordinary set of challenges. By 2030, it is estimated that 8 billion persons will populate the world—an increase of 2 billion people from today's population. Hunger and poverty around the globe must be addressed, while the life-support systems provided by the world's natural environment are maintained. Meeting these challenges will require new knowledge generated by continued scientific advances, the development of appropriate new technologies , and a broad dissemination of this knowledge and technology along with the capacity to use it throughout the world. It will also require that wise policies be implemented through informed decision making on the part of national, state, and local governments in each nation. Scientific advances require an open system of information exchange in which arguments are based on verifiable evidence. Although the primary goal of science is to increase our understanding of the world, knowledge created through science has had immense practical benefits. For example, through science, we have developed a more complete understanding of our natural environment , improved human health with new medicines, and discovered specific plant genes that control disease or drought resistance. Biotechnology can be defined as the application of our knowledge and understanding of biology to meet practical needs. By this definition, biotechnology is as old as the growing of crops and the making of cheeses and wines. Today's biotechnology is iv TRANSGENIC PLANTS AND WORLD AGRICULTURE largely identified with applications in medicine and agriculture based on our knowledge of the genetic code of life. Various terms have been used …