Next-Gen GM
Debate over genetically modified crops tends to focus on shaky scientific concerns about their dietary safety, or fears that excessive regulation will stop the development of extra-nutritious, extra-hardy crops. These questions are secondary to the commercial reality of GM crops, the most popular of which are designed to withstand high doses of the herbicide Roundup.
More than 90 percent of U.S. soybeans and 70 percent of corn and cotton is Roundup-resistant, an over-reliance that accelerated the evolution of Roundup-resistant weeds. Most of the genetically modified crops now in commercial development, and scheduled for federal review in the next several years, represent a chemical answer to this quandary: They're designed to withstand heavy doses of multiple herbicides, including highly toxic chemicals that Roundup was originally supposed to replace.
They suggest a future in which agriculture is far more chemically intensive than it already is, leading some scientists to say that farming in the U.S. is at a crossroads.
Image: Michelle Tribe/Flickr