The debate about the safety or environmental dangers of genetically modified (GM) crops is set to run and run. But how safe are conventional crops? Speaking at the British Association Festival of Science in Sheffield, UK, Ben Miflin of the Institute of Arable Crops Research (IACR), Rothamsted, UK warned that the GM food debate is taking place in the absence of much public understanding of conventional crops.
Intheir natural state, most plants, including the close relatives of many crop plants, produce deadly poisons to discourage animals and insects from eating them. Among plants that are widely used for food, potatoes carry levels of a nerve poison that would probably be unacceptable for an artificial product; cassava contains substances that generate fatal levels of cyanide; and even beans can cause intense stomach cramps. Centuries of selection for less poisonous varieties has reduced the levels of toxin in many food plants, but others - for example, beans and cassava - require careful and sometimes lengthy preparation to make them fit for consumption.
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