This book is a collection of the papers and addresses delivered at the 2002 Cambridge Conference on Genetically Modified Crops and Food organised by the Cambridge Society for the Application of Research (CSAR). The conference and the book are introduced by Dr Brian Ford and Professor Sir Sam Edwards, president of CSAR. Dr Ford comments on the need to hear the science based and well reasoned arguments of the presenters who have given considerable thought over many years to the application of GM technology.

The line up of presenters is impressive with Professor Malcolm Grant (Pro vice-chancellor University of Cambridge & Chair of AEBC), Dr Colin Merritt, (Biotechnology Manager, Monsanto UK), Professor Sir John Marsh (Agricultural Economics, University of Reading), Professor Joe Perry (Rothamsted Research), Professor Mike Gasson (Chair of ACNFP), Professor Sir Brian Heap (Master of St Edmunds College, Cambridge). Malcolm Grant discusses the establishment, past and present activities of the Agriculture and the Environment Biotechnology Commission and comments on his aspirations for the current AEBC initiated Public Debate on GMOs in the UK.

Colin Merritt presents a review of the current status of GM crops world wide. He describes the extent of cultivation and examples of the socio-economic impact that GM crops are having in some regions. This paper is an interesting but technical review and lacks a glossary for the terms used in the text and in the tables making some parts unintelligible to a non-scientific reader. Sir John Marsh discusses the impact of GM technology on the food and farming sectors. He examines the role of food companies especially in response to activists, consumer attitudes and the social acceptability of GM foods in Europe. He describes the factors which influence the political process and the uphill struggle that scientists have in communicating reasoned argument in the face of the non-evidence based messages from anatagonists. He points out that it is ironic that groups, whose 'role' is to uphold the rights of the individual, are conspiring to deny choice and access to technology to peoples around the world. He says "In reality it is the behaviour of the food companies (in response to this pressure) that has made it impossible for consumers to express demand". The consequences of this are that farmers in Europe and in many developing nations are concerned that they will loose access to markets if GM crops are grown in their countries.

However thousands of Europeans consume GM foods annually when they travel abroad and in fact most express little concern in spite of all the media hype. Thus Marsh considers the prospects for the general acceptance of GMOs in Europe are good especially if clear choices are available. Joe Perry discusses three issues: 1). The environmental risks from GM crops, with particular reference to the UK Farm Scale Evaluation programme. 2). The Co-existence of GM and non-GM crops, based on the arbitrary separation distances proposed by organic organisations. The relevance of this study is questionable especially when it is based on the premise that "of the GM crops grown in the FSE, sweetcorn is the only organic crop for which there is a real possibility of gene transfer". The issues involved in the co-existence of GM and non-GM crops are complex involving an understanding of the reproductive biology, dispersal mechanisms, farming systems, socio-economic impact and liability issues all of which have been thoroughly reviewed elsewhere and are the subject of on-going studies. 3). The social and ethical issues surrounding GMOs. This is an interesting discussion highlighting some of the more important tensions between social and natural science, which are exemplified in the debate about GMOs. He points out that AEBC seems to have overlooked much of the earlier ethical debate and been selective in the material it has included in reviews so that it appears to have discovered or created many previously well discussed issues.

Mike Gasson describes the principle potential hazards from GM foods and the methods used to evaluate their safety. He describes how the concept of substantial equivalence is used to determine which elements of GM food need investigating. There is recognition that food widely consumed over many years has an accepted level of safety and that evaluation of GM food should focus on differences directly or indirectly associated with the inserted transgene. Difficulties arise when the inserted transgene unintentionally disrupts other metabolic pathways altering protein synthesis. This is an interesting review giving both lay and scientific readers a good understanding of the principle issues involved in evaluating food safety.

Sir Brian Heap discusses world food problems and the role of new technologies in improving food supply. He correctly establishes that food supply is dependant on a range of political, social, demographic, climatic, economic as well as technical factors. He also points out that current agricultural practise is largely unsustainable, being heavily reliant on depleting natural resources. He recognises that that there are major social and technical hurdles to overcome in order to gain acceptance of GM foods. However he concludes that there could be serious consequences if we ignore the potential for any new technology to improve the sustainability of crop production and the associated environmental and social improvements.

In conclusion this is an interesting book both to scientists (like me) and to non-specialists in this field, especially if they skim over some of the more technical details in the chapters by Merritt and Perry. It is a useful contribution to the current public debate in that it provides a useful insight into the positions adopted by the various conflicting factions and helps explain why there is little or no political direction or leadership being given to the general public. Sir Brian Heap suggests that the establishment by the government of AEBC has actually had the opposite effect. It has blurred the boundary between scientific and value judgements, leaving the public (and politicians) even more confused and making political decisions more difficult. Several developed and developing countries have clear policies to examine the role of genetic modification for enhancing food production and quality. China probably now has more research effort into crop biotechnology than the whole of Europe, and improvements in production efficiency or quality have been recorded in most instances where GM crops have been grown. Within the EU, only Spain has so far had the political courage to state that it will allow the phased introduction of GM crops.

We already widely use GM technology in medicine, we now expect to buy a greater diversity of introduced food crops and products from around the world, with associated depletion of non-renewable resources, and introduced alien whole genomes abound in our cities, towns and countryside. How long will it take to put the introduction of a few novel genes in our food crops into the correct perspective?