Survey highlights impact of GMO concerns on biotech investment

A survey has been released by the European Commission which shows how a decline in confidence regarding genetically modified food could be deterring investment in medical biotechnology, potentially leaving the EU at a competitive disadvantage.

This Eurobarometer poll says that overall support for GM food is found only in Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Finland; with most Europeans considering GMOs 'of little value and dangerous for society'.

The result, concluded the poll, was that the 'EU has seen significant delays to new GM varieties and applications; small and medium-sized enterprises have stopped participating in innovative plant biotechnology research and large biotech companies have relocated research, field trials and commercialisation of new GMOs outside the EU'. It added: 'This will quite possibly lead to importing and processing only of GM materials in the EU. Interest in GM technology continues to grow outside Europe, with many new applications being researched and followed up in field trials.'

These problems are arising despite the fact that GM medical applications are widely supported within the EU, with genetic testing for inherited diseases and cloning human cells and tissues supported in all Member States.