Have you ever dreamed about a trip to the space? Seeds of some vegetables and crops are a lot luckier than you, as they have travelled to space and back. China is among the three countries in the world that carry out agricultural research in space. The others are Russia and the US. Since 1987, China has sent about 1,000 species of seeds into space. These include green peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers  , carrots, lettuce and wheat. Even on China's first manned spacecraft Shenzhou-V, there were some seeds from Taiwan. "Conditions in outer space such as radiation and low gravity can cause big changes in the seeds," said Chinese researcher Jin Xing. But not all seeds are better after going to space. After returning to Earth, the best seeds are selected.These seeds produce much more and also grow faster than normal seeds. As the safety of genetically modified   food is still being debated, some people doubt the safety of these "space vegetables" because some of their genes are changed during the trip to space. But Jin holds a more positive view. He said, "unlike genetically modified crops, no new genes are introduced to the space vegetables, so they are definitely safe." China has also been co-operating with NASA to grow some super size potatoes on the International Space Station. Special growth rooms use computers to control the light, temperature and humidity  . Using this technology a new, virus-free potato can be produced every 40 to 50 days instead of the previous yearly crop. Which statement is true?
Genetically modified food is not safe. The space vegetables don't belong to genetically modified food to some extent. About 1,000 species of seeds were sent into space on Shenzhou V. Seeds back from space must be planted in special growth rooms controlled by computers.