CBI attended the public briefing of a National Academies Report, “The Impact of Generically Engineered Crops on Farm Sustainability in the United States.”

According to the report in brief:

“Corn, cotton and soybean that have been engineered to resist insect pests and herbicides are now planted on almost half of all U.S. cropland. An analysis of the U.S. experience with genetically engineered crops shows that they offer substantial net environmental and economic benefits compared to conventional crops; however, these benefits have not been universal, some may decline over time, and potential benefits and risks may become more numerous as the technology is applied to more crops.”

The report concludes that additional research that studies the full effects of GE crops is needed, and private-public partnerships are necessary to help realize the full potential of genetic engineering.

The  New York Times, Wall Street Journal and  NPR  all reported on this this important study issued by the National Resources Council, which is affiliated with NAS.