Controversy is raging about genetically modified food and a special forum is meeting at Oxford Town Hall tonight to thrash out the issues, writes Phil Clee.

A panel of eminent speakers is lined up for the one-off event, which forms one of the centrepieces of this week's Oxford Trust Festival of Science and Innovation.

Among the high-profile speakers are:

* Sir Walter Bodmer, former chair of genetics at Oxford University

* Dr Evan Harris, Liberal Democrat MP for Oxford West and Abingdon

* Toby Murcott, a journalist working for BBC Radio's science unit. Topics the panel hope to tackle include offering an insight into what affects the reporting of the whole GM issue in the media.

Today the Oxford Mail gives a platform to both sides of the argument.

One of tonight's panel members, Prof Christopher Leaver, is head of the Department of Plant Sciences at Oxford, while Adrian Bebb is an environmental campaigner for Friends of the Earth.

The case for by Prof Christopher Leaver: Society likes the benefits of technology but increasingly fears the risks, causing increasing growth in alternatives as they are perceived as safer. The row over GM food contrasts oddly with the widespread acceptance and use of many products in health care: 25 per cent of the top 20 drugs - for example, insulin, growth hormone, hepatitis B vaccines, and antibodies to treat cancer - are produced using GM organisms.

Prof Leaver argues that the use of genomics - the study of the genetics of an organism - will transform agricultural breeding and selection techniques. This will make genetic improvements easier, and allow resistance to difficult pests to become possible.

In addition, improved nutritional levels would be achievable, and modern biotechnologies could help provide benefits including: * Pest and disease control;

* Weed control;

* Oil, starch and protein modification;

* Speciality crops delivering vitamin A, iron, anti-cancer properties and allergens;

* Pharmaceuticals.

He adds: There are major agricultural production and food challenges facing the developing world, while there are major factors reducing productivity of staple food crops. Modern biotechnologies offer the potential to accelerate improvement and provide novel solutions. In the next 50 years, mankind will consume twice as much food as mankind has consumed since the beginning of agriculture 10,000 years ago.

The global food security challenge is to increase productivity of cereals at farm level by 805m tonnes, from the1995 level of 1,776m tonnes to 2,581m tonnes by 2025.

Future food security will require the development of a sustainable and environmentally friendly agriculture which combines the best of conventional plant breeding with the new biotechnologies.

As we strive to develop more sustainable agricultural systems and protect our environment from pollution, let us not forget that the biggest pollutant in the world today is poverty, which afflicts more than 1.2bn people. The case against by Adrian Bebb: Genetically modified food and crops have rarely been out of the headlines. Despite assurances from the Government and the biotech industry, public confidence in this new technology has hit rock bottom.

Consumer pressure has forced supermarkets, food manufacturers and restaurants to phase out GM ingredients, and there has been opposition to the GM crop trials taking place around the country. Friends of the Earth believes the public are right to be concerned. Concerns fall into two categories: impact on health and impact on the environment.

GM is a new way of producing foods - randomly inserting genes from other organisms. Our knowledge of what we are doing is very limited.

However, despite the fact we are already eating GM food, research into the long-term health effects is either incomplete or hasn't been undertaken. So why are we eating them?

There are also real fears about the impacts GM crops may have on the environment. Genetic pollution is a major concern. Safety controls on trial sites are inadequate, and there are fears GM crops will cross-breed with wild plants. Indeed, GM pollen was discovered over four kilometres from a trial site in Oxfordshire.

Farmers growing non-GM and organic crops are also at risk. If their crops become contamined, their entire livelihoods could be at risk.

The demand for organic and non-GM food is soaring. Why are we risking it for something that most people don't want?

When GM foods were introduced, there was little - if any - public debate. This is exactly what the biotech industry wanted. We are now having the debate that should have taken place before these foods were placed on the market. Along with many other organisations, Friends of the Earth is campaigning for a five-year freeze on GM food and crops. More information is needed about the potential impact.

Once we have comprehensive information about the risks, the public should be allowed to decide whether or not to proceed down this route.

At present, we clearly don't.

Story date: Thursday 03 February

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