The promise of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is great. It is most likely to impact society in a large way in the form of plants. Scientists put desired traits into plants in spite of a lack of these traits in that organism, or in that genus, or even in plants at all. Some say that this will create a new green revolution [local] and help feed the world's increasing population. Some question whether GMOs are safe. Some question whether the only ones to benefit will be the major companies that own the patents on GMOs. GMOs are already big business in agriculture; major percentages of the U.S. corn and soybean markets are GMOs. Some people are predicting that the next wave will be modified fruits and vegetables with increased vitamin and nutritional content. These are called neutraceuticals and even without GMOs they are a big business [local]. A recent high-profile example was the engineering of the biosynthetic pathway for beta-carotene biosynthesis into rice. Humans can convert dietary beta-carotene into Vitamin A. Vitamin A deficiency currently affects about 400 million people, causing visual impairment and many cases of blindness. It is hoped that the use of this genetically modified rice can lead to an improvement of human health world wide.

Like them or not, GMOs are a hot topic in the popular press. Students are likely to be aware of the ongoing controversy, some will be semi-knowledegable, some will be opinionated, but all may look to you for insight.