Hi, I have a list from one of my uni lectures, but its buried somewhere and I can't find it, so here's as well as I can remember-
For:
- Genetic modification can lead to reduced use of chemicals eg pesticides, herbicides as resistant varieties of crop are grown
- With growing global demands for food, the future of agriculture is going to rely on producing more food/Ha, therefore crops modifed to give greater yields will be required
- It may be possible in the future to reduce water use of crops by inserting a gene from drought tolerant plants into commercially viable crops (eg native grasses)
- In the same vein as above it may also be possible to engineer crops requiring less fertilizer inputs
Against:
- negative public perception regarding GM foods (based on absolutely nothing I might add)
I'm afraid thats all I can remember, the big thing I got was that there is very little wrong with GM foods, just alarmist people talking crap about things they know nothing about