About the Council for Biotechnology Information
The Council for Biotechnology Information is a non-profit 501c6 organization that communicates science-based information about the benefits and safety of agricultural biotechnology and its contributions to sustainable development.
Sustainable development seeks to balance and integrate immediate and long-term community needs. It helps enhance our quality of life today, as well as to protect, preserve, and fulfill our needs in the future. Sustainable agriculture is a key component of sustainable development, particularly because it allows for economically and environmentally sustainable agricultural practices.
In the United States agricultural biotechnology is contributing today to sustainable agricultural practices, and it has the potential to make even greater contributions in the future through production of biofuels to help meet energy needs; development of drought-tolerant plants to better preserve and manage water resources; and increased crop production to feed our nation and the world’s growing population.
CBI members are the leading agricultural biotechnology companies.
On our website you’ll find stories about:
- How biotechnology could one day help people lead healthier lives through the development of new products such as oils with reduced levels of saturated fats.
- How biotechnology can help boost farm yields and improve diets in poor, developing parts of the world. How biotechnology is helping to improve the environment by reducing plowing and the need for spraying, thus curbing erosion, conserving fuel and preserving wildlife habitats.
- How biotechnology can help farmers better manage water resources, particularly in the face of drought or water shortages.
- How biotechnology is helping to grow increased yields of crops used for both food and production of biofuels.
- How biotechnology has become one of the most rapidly adopted technologies in the history of agriculture.
- How biotechnology is improving farmers’ bottom lines, whether it’s a soybean farmer in Iowa, a cotton farmer in South Africa or a papaya farmer in Hawaii.
- And how respected scientific and medical organizations from around the world have declared that foods developed with biotechnology are safe and hold great promise for improving diets and health.
We’ve divided the site into information about food, biofuels and drought – so readers can quickly find information they need.
Yes, there are issues to resolve with agricultural biotechnology, some of them difficult. CBI is committed to addressing concerns by deploying the best scientific research and other information in credible and understandable ways. Our research tells us that the more people learn about plant biotechnology, the more they will welcome it into the marketplace.
We all can support a technology that can increase harvests, that helps us meet our energy needs, and create products able to grow in drought-stricken and other inhospitable areas. We all care about giving farmers better tools to improve productivity and raise their living standards. As an engine of economic growth in the United States and around the world, agriculture can help alleviate the poverty that still afflicts so much of the world, and biotechnology can help agriculture do its job.
The world has just begun to see the benefits of this technology in a seed, and as more products reach the marketplace, those benefits will grow. Prime among them is the simple, but still elusive, benefit that comes when hungry people have enough to eat. And because many more biotech products in the pipeline offer more nutritious or tasty food, we all stand to benefit directly.
Research and development deserve and need to continue, governed by science-based, regulatory systems that ensure products reaching the market are safe for people, animals and the environment.
Please let us know what you think of our web site by contacting us via phone, mail or email. We welcome your comments, questions and ideas about farm and food biotechnology.