Ontario Agri-Food Technologies – FAQs

Numerous questions have been asked about agricultural biotechnology. In this section, we try to answer these as accurately as possible.

• What is “Biotechnology”?
• Plant biotechnology is so new – can we determine any problems that might be associated with it?
• Are genetically modified foods labelled?
• Can genetically modified foods be placed on the market without proper testing?
• Are there some unknown, dangerous aspects about transgenic plants that have not been considered?
• Does biotechnology allow the large corporations to control food supply?
• Will transgenic plants cross with wild relatives and cause environmental damage?
• What is the terminator gene?
• Is the terminator gene unfair to the farmer?
• It is wrong for biotechnology companies to be able to patent new varieties of crop plants, charge a premium for the seeds and then prosecute farmers who save seeds?
• Isn’t it true that there is plenty of food, and that the main problem is the distribution?
• Why can’t “normal breeding” and organic farming supply the world needs for food?
• Will biotechnology will increase the use of herbicides?
• What are insect resistant crops?
• Could insect resistant crops eliminate beneficial insects?
• Since there is no control over where the transgene is inserted into the plant genome, could this cause unknown effects?
• Can the use of antibiotic resistance in plants make harmful bacteria resistant to antibiotics?
• Can transgenic plants become weeds in other crops if they are herbicide resistant?
• Do herbicide resistant crop plants cause any environmental problems?
• Will biotechnology eliminate traditional breeding methods?
• Can you be 100% certain that GM foods are safe?