In November 2005, 55.7 percent of 2 million Swiss voters approved a 5-year moratorium (ban) on the commercial cultivation of genetically modified (GM) plants within Switzerland. The present study examines how individual voting decisions were determined by (i) socioeconomic characteristics, (ii) political preference/ideology and (iii) agreement with a series of arguments in favour and against th...

Among the genetically modified (GM) crops that are being approved for commercialization, herbicide resistant crops, especially those harboring cp4-epsps, have a considerable contribution. Gene-specific methods can be used to screen the presence of GMOs. To establish an effective qualitative and quantitative screening method, a set of primers were designed considering the cp4epsps sequence. The ...

Visit the new GeneWatch UK online database at http://www.genewatch.org In a desperate effort to reverse its failing fortunes, the biotechnology industry and its supporters are putting their faith in the ‘second generation’ of genetically modified (GM) crops. It is claimed that many of these will bring consumer benefits by offering foods with enhanced nutritional value (so-called ‘functional foo...

Can public policies and research institutions in African countries provide safe and useful genetically modified (GM) food crops? This is an urgent question, recognizing that advancing GM food crops can be difficult, affected by global debate, and various regulatory protocols. Reaching farmers has been achieved in several countries only for GM cotton for insect resistant while approvals for food...

An increasing set of evidence has been reported on how consumers could potentially react to the introduction of genetically modified food. Studies typically contain some empirical evidence and some theoretical explanations of the data, however, to date limited effort has been posed on systematically reviewing the existing evidence and its implications for policy. This paper contributes to the l...

Introduction Genetically modified (GM) foodstuffs entered the global food system in the early to mid-1990s and are now in a wide selection of raw and processed foods. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has indicated that up to 70% of processed foods could contain GM ingredients if highly processed ingredients are considered. This rapid introduction of GM foods has been marked by two div...