Modern genetic tools continue to improve. Breeders are using
technologies such as marker-assisted breeding, biotechnology and
genomics to better measure and understand DNA alterations and
thus increase the precision with which changes are achieved.
Insect or disease protection through biotechnology are being
successfully employed in a number of commercial species,
including cotton, papaya, corn and soybeans. Several seed
development programs show promise for reducing water
requirements and improving nitrogen utilization (to reduce
fertilizer need) in established crops such as corn and cotton,
as well as in new crops such as switchgrass and miscanthus that
are desirable, nonfood feedstocks for biofuels. Some critics
assert that the DNA alterations achieved through biotechnology
present unique health, environmental or social concerns that are
not posed by the DNA alterations that result from other breeding
techniques. But the accumulated experience of having safely
cultivated and harvested more than one billion