GMO - Tempting traits waiting in the wings

The latest genetically modified crops being trialled in Europe are open to public at the Uplingen Plant Science Garden in east Germany. Potatoes that fend off blight without the aid of pesticides, sugar beet capable of withstanding a dose of glyphosate and maize that wards off its two main pests.

Those are just some of the crops traits awaiting EU approval for them to be grown commercially. But so far, just two GM crops can be grown on farms in the EU. The first, which was granted approval in 1998, is a maize variety with resistance to European corn borer, and the second is the highly efficient Amflora starch potato that contains just the right compound for industrial processing.