The Future of Food Biotechnology

It is difficult to predict the course of the next 20 years with respect to transgenic crops. Public acceptance may slowly increase, assuming that these plants have a continued record of human and environmental safety. It is also possible that new strategies for safety assessment will rise through the increasing research commitment to this problem.

However, consumer hostility to transgenic crops and animals may continue will into this century. Food safety is an increasingly strong source of worry for many people, and anti-biotechnology activists have successfully convinced great numbers of people that transgenic technology is dangerous when applied to food.

Other aspects of food biotechnology, such as the functional food revolution, will continue to thrive, as we learn more about the ability of specific food components to fight disease. Microbial technology will continue to be a vital economic force, despite being invisible to most of the public, and diagnostic biotechnology will continue on its course, steadily improving the food industry’s ability to ensure that food is safe and pathogen free.