tively easily by mechanical means or by the use of
bacterial “vectors” capable of transporting genes
into plant nuclei, animal egg cells—especially mam-
mals—were much more difficult to transform. The
problem of reproducing transformed animals gen-
erated considerable interest in the development of
cloning techniques. In 1996, the Roslin Institute in
Scotland announced the birth of the first cloned GM
sheep, Dolly, and in 1998 Gala Design of Wisconsin
reported good success rates in transforming bovine
egg cells by means of retroviral vectors, suggesting
that the GM revolution in agriculture might soon be
followed by a similar revolution in animal hus-
bandry.
Impact The most explosive impact of genetic engi-
neering in the public arena during the 1990’s was
the fierce controversy associated with the develop-
ment of GM crop plants. Reaction against the intro-
duction of GM crops and their commercial produce
further boosted the profile and popularity of the
organic food movement, which had long opposed
the intensive use of artificial pesticides. That ideo-
logical conflict intensified in the later years of the
decade and seemed set to be a dominant theme of
debates about food production in the twenty-first
century.
Further Reading
Avise, John C.The Hope, Hype, and Reality of Genetic
Engineering: Remarkable Stories from Agriculture, In-
dustr y, Medicine, and the Environment. New York:
Oxford University Press, 2004. A wide-ranging
popular account of the applications of the tech-
nology developed in the 1990’s.
Boylan, Michael, and Kevin E. Brown.Genetic Engi-
neering: Science and Ethics on the New Frontier. Upper
Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2001. A descrip-
tion of the scientific techniques employed in ge-
netic engineering, supplemented by a discussion
of the ethical issues raised by their use.
Kneen, Brewster.Farmageddon: Food and the Culture of
Biotechnology. Gabriola Island, B.C.: New Society,
- An alarmist account of the rapid increase in
the commercial exploitation of GM organisms.
Nicholl, Desmond S. T.An Introduction to Genetic En-
gineering. 2d ed. New York: Cambridge University
Press, 2002. A basic survey of the science and tech-
nology in a Studies in Biology series aimed at col-
lege students.
Yount, Lisa.Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering. Rev.
ed. New York: Facts On File, 2004. A useful com-
pendium in the Library in a Book series, supple-
menting synoptic accounts of the relevant science
and legislation with a chronology, biographies
of significant individuals, and a massive bibliog-
raphy.
Brian StablefordSee also Agriculture in the United States; Cancer
research; Cloning; Genetically modified foods; Ge-
netics research; Health care; Medicine; Organic food
movement; Pharmaceutical industry; Science and
technology. Genetically modified foods
Definition Food crops that contain one or more
genes from other speciesGenetically modified foods first became commercially avail-
able in the early 1990’s. Despite the apparent benefits of
these food crops, including increased yield and de-
creased use of pesticides, opponents have argued that such
crops may pose risks to the environment and human
health.Humans have been breeding, crossing, cultivating,
and improving on food plants for thousands of
years. Although traditional crossing techniques had
been used extensively in the past, radiation and
chemical means were introduced in the late 1920’s
and early 1930’s to genetically alter and improve
food crops. Food crops are still being altered
through traditional breeding techniques. More
than two thousand food crops that were genetically
altered by traditional methods are commercially
available. The development of genetic engineering
techniques in the 1970’s gave scientists the ability to
insert foreign genes into plant cells, giving rise to
transgenic plants and genetically modified (GM)
foods.Early History of Plant Genetic Engineering In 1974,
the tumor-inducing (Ti) plasmid in tumor-causing
strains ofAgrobacterium tumefacienswas discovered. A
year later, it was demonstrated that the plasmid was
the tumor-causing agent that the bacterium injects
into the plant, where it is subsequently incorporated
into the plant’s genome. As early as 1983, it was dem-The Nineties in America Genetically modified foods 361