State Institute for Quality Control of Agricultural Products (RIKILT),
March 2000
Wageningen, The Netherlands :
The first generation of genetically modified crop varieties is generally altered for agronomic traits that are encoded by a single gene, such as virus-, insect-, or herbicide resistance. In the last few years, it can be seen that the genetic alterations in new plant varieties under development are becoming more complex with more genes being involved in the modification. Also, it can be seen that a larger variety of metabolic pathways is being modified for traits that not only relate to agronomical features but also to food quality and nutritional characteristics or other aspects such as seedless fruits. This study reports recent developments in the application of biotechnology in agriculture in order to assess whether current food safety evaluation strategies are adequate in view of these new and presumably more far reaching development. Trends are observed that may require additional regulatory measures by the government. Finally, specific new developments in gene technology may be the subject of a public debate in order to decide whether these developments are socially acceptable or not.
