Genetically Modified Foods: Overview

Biotechnology, seemingly a modern concept, has been used for thousands of years. Grain was turned into beer and bread, and grapes were made into wine and vinegar. Milk and salted vegetables were turned into products that did not spoil readily. With human observation and ingenuity, many foods were preserved and stored against lean times. Taste and appearance often changed drastically, but these foods, unlike spoiled foods, caused no illness.

With biotechnology, living organisms or biological processes are used to generate useful or desirable products. Yogurt and beer seem unrelated, but both are formed through the agency of live microorganisms (bacteria in yogurt, yeast in beer). Some medicines, such as antibiotics (produced by molds), also are products of biotechnology.