by Alvin L. Young

About the author: Alvin L. Young is director of the Center for Risk Excellence at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois.

What should we do with genetically modified foods in the twenty-first century? A more appropriate question perhaps would be what will the twenty-first century be without genetically modified foods? Before we consider either question, let us examine a future scenario. By its very nature, agriculture disrupts the natural ecosystem. Combine this very significant disruption of the land, water, and air with the unceasing march of mankind via urban sprawl and population growth and the future may indeed be bleak.

Increasingly, the media are focusing on individuals who tell us that the future should be one of vast green spaces interlaced with a...