Extensive studies have already been undertaken by several international organizations on the implications of biotech products on human and animal health and on the environment. 

According to several members of the local scientific community which has strongly backed biotechnology application to agriculture, such studies have already been done by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the Third World Academy of Sciences, as well as the national academies of science and technology of other countries. 

The legitimate global scientific community seems to be of the consensus that food crops that have gone through biotechnology "are as safe as any conventionally bred crop and pose no additional threat to humans and the environment." 

"In fact, they have made farming safer by significantly diminishing the need for chemical insecticide application," the local scientists said. 

The reason for the reduced chemical insecticide requirement is biotechnology itself. Through this modern laboratory process, useful and superior qualities are transferred to an existing variety of plant or strain of animals or microbes to develop new and better varieties or strains. The process, also known as genetic engineering, accounts for the development of plants that are naturally resistant to drought, insects and other pests. 

Among the local groups of scientists who support the adoption of biotech crops and who attest to the studies on the safety of these products are the various units of the University of the Philippines, including the National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, the Institute of Plant Breeding, and the Natural Science Research Institute. 

They are backed by the Crop Science Society of the Philippines, the Biochemical Society of the Philippines, the Philippine Association for the Advancement of Science and Technology and the Pest Management Council of the Philippines. 

Due to the proven safety of biotech products, the scientists said, "the Department of Health treats GMO-derived food like any other food and has no need to test or detect its presence." 

The stand of the local scientists on biotechnology is echoed by American scientists. The prestigious US National Academy of Sciences said "agricultural biotechnology is one tool that holds great promise for alleviating hunger and poverty." 

The US Food and Drug Administration, which has one of the most stringent food evaluation policies, also declared that biotech food "present no inherent risk compared to conventionally bred plants. Other medical and scientific institutions in the US support the US FDA finding: the American Dietetic Association and the Institute of Food Technologists. 

In addition, regulatory agencies in the European Union, Canada and Japan have approved the consumption of various crops and foods developed by modern biotechnology for food and feed use. Not cancer-causing 
The Institute of Plant Breeding (IPB) of the University of the Philippines, meanwhile, debunked claims by Greenpeace and other anti-biotech groups that genetically modified food products can cause cancer. 

"There is no evidence that the technologies used to produce GMOs are inherently harmful," the IPB said. They said one study that attempted to link cancer with GMOs was found to be defective. 

"After careful evaluation of a study by Dr. Arpad Pusztal of the Rowett Institute in the United Kingdom, the Royal Society of London, a UK-based Senior Scientific Academy, found the study to be flawed in experimental design, execution and analysis," the IPB reported. Farmers’ needs 
The group of Filipino scientists said biotech crops "that are resistant to drought, disease and insects are needed by Filipino farmers. Those that improve consumer health such as Vitamin A rice, protein-rich staples, cholesterol-lowering foods are needed by our rapidly growing population, they added. 

They said it is "imperative that the government strengthen the capacity of the scientific community in genetic engineering and support the rapid transfer of appropriate biotech crops to farmers." 

The government is currently seriously looking at the application of biotechnology to rice, corn, papaya and other staple food items.