Boom !

On the american prairies, the biotech harvest is as reliable as it is bountiful : bumper crops of corn, wheat and soya, thanks to genetic tinkering in the test tubes.

But now, Prince Charles has joined the contoversy over genetically modified food. Writting in the Daily Telegraph he says :" I happen to believe that this kind of genetic modification takes mankind into realms that belong to God and God alone, we simply do not know the long-term consequences for human health and wider environment of realising plants bred in this way"

Some scientists too fear the crops could have unknown effects in years to come and want a ban on production in Europe : " Irreversible damage to the world's food supply. Because what genetic engineering in agriculture is producing, in the release into the environment of viable genetically engeenered organisms, whether they be bacteria, viruses or plants or animals. "

Prince Charles's warning comes as biotech giant Mosanto launches a million pound advertising compaign, in an attempt to convice consumers the crops are good for them and the environment. In America, the Hi-Tech hybrids are seen as the answer to the environmental damage wreaked by modern pesticide dependant agriculture. Why spay toxins when you can have in-bred resistance ?

" This is going to rank with the invention of vaccinaton, it's going to rank with the computer, and it's kind of comparable to looking at the aeroplane, in the year 1912, and wondering what it's gonna do for you."

And while scientists debate the safety of biotech crops, consumers are being left in the dark. "Iceland" wants the UE to close a loophole which allows genetically modified ingredients to be mixed together without customers knowing exactly what they're eating. " What's happening now is that we're going to be forced into the situation where we have to eat genetically modified food whether we want to or not, and that's what I object to. "

Prince Charles has been an organic farm for over 12 years, he says there must be comprehensive food labelling and he, for one, won't be eating food produced in the lab.