Agricultural Biotechnology

Agricultural biotechnology has been a topic of considerable social and environmental controversy since it was first pursued by researchers and later adopted by industrial agriculture. The term usually refers to living agricultural inputs, such as seeds that use genetic engineering, though some institutions define it much more broadly. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, biotechnology means the application of science and technology to living organisms and their parts, products, and models thereof and to alter materials for the production of knowledge, goods, and services. Such a broad definition applied to food and agriculture can describe everything from beer brewing and bread baking to all of plant breeding since the start of sedentary civilization. The international Convention on Biological Diversity defines biotechnology in ...