GM Foods & Biotechnology

Key Facts

1. 1

   First GM food: Flavr Savr tomato (1994) — engineered for slower ripening

2. 2

   Bt cotton (India, 2002): modified with Bacillus thuringiensis gene — reduced pesticide use by 50%

3. 3

   GM crops cover 200 million hectares globally; hotly debated on safety, biodiversity and corporate control

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