All the food we eat - every grain of rice and kernel of corn - has been genetically modified. None of it was here before mankind learned to cultivate crops. The question isn't whether our food has been modified, but how.

All the food we eat, whether Brussels sprouts or pork bellies, has been modified by mankind. Genetic engineering is only one particularly powerful way to do what we have been doing for eleven thousand years.

By themselves, genetically engineered crops will not end hunger or improve health or bolster the economies of struggling countries. They won't save the sight of millions or fortify their bones. But they will certainly help.

For consumers, the lesson is simple: Genetically modified foods are safe to eat.

We don't want to produce grapes. We want to answer the scientific question of whether this transgenic (genetically modified) root can lead to the plant developing durable resistance to this virus.

The history of agriculture is the history of humans breeding seeds and animals to produce traits we want in our crops and livestock.