12/19/00 Genetically and non-Genetically Modified Crops, How they are created, produced, and marketed

In 1997, transgenic varieties of soybean seed that resist the herbicide Round Up®2 became widely available commercially in the U.S. and other parts of the world. The term, transgenic, indicates that a gene or genes from a non-related life-form have been transferred into the genetic structure of another life-form, in this case a soybean plant. While the term is not strictly accurate, the name “genetically modified organism (GMO) ” has been widely accepted as the appropriate term for describing such crops. The procedure for developing these crops is in sharp contrast to plant breeding and genetic modification that have been done for centuries, in which genes from other related varieties were used to create improved varieties of a specific crop through plant breeding. Farmers in the U.S. rapidly adopted GMO soybeans, resulting in the most rapid diffusion of new agricultural technology ever experienced. In 1997, less than 20 percent of the U.S. soybean cropland was believed to be planted to GMO varieties. By 1999, the percentage had increased to an estimated 57 percent, and in 2000 it is estimated at 54 percent. The photos below contrast the weed control effectiveness of Roundup Ready®3 soybeans (left) with a non-GMO variety (right). For corn, an estimated 25 percent of the U.S. crop was estimated to have been planted to GMO varieties in 2000—down from about 33 percent the previous year