Though European consumers still aren't ready to embrace genetically modified agricultural products, there is real movement toward acceptance, according to a David Lightfoot, a professor at Southern Illinois University who specializes in biotechnology, said that the bottom line will likely decide GMO's future in Europe.

The development of pharmaceuticals by the German-based company Bayer is among factors paving the way for more acceptance of biotechnology in the food markets, said Lightfoot. He spoke at the first Agriculture Industry Day at Southern Illinois University Saturday. "The pump's primed and we're ready to roll," he said. "There is a whole range of products coming forward. The biotechnology industry is growing 10 percent a year."

One driving force is the EU's desire to compete with the United States. The majority of GMO breakthroughs have occurred here and U.S. companies are profiting from their products' use in Asia, Africa and other emerging economies. "Since the mid '90s with biotech products out, there has been a general feeling that the only people making money out of this technology are the Americans," said Lightfoot, a native of England. "The Europeans view themselves as the big competition. Now the opportunity has presented itself to do something about these feelings of competition."

The university conducted two surveys of British consumers in recent years that indicated there might be some acceptance of GMO foods. Ag economist Wanki Moon explained that England was chosen because its attitude toward biotechnology is considered to be in the middle among European nations. Though 45 percent of British consumers surveyed indicated they would never buy genetically modified food, an average of 35 percent said they would if it were less expensive. As many as 50 percent said they would buy it if it were significantly less expensive than non-GMO food.

"It depends on how the food industry sees these numbers," Moon said. "There is still political pressure. But once one company starts to offer GM foods, it's just a matter of time before others will." Also adding to growing acceptance may be the reality that virtually no products on store shelves are without some component of modified genetics.

Lightfoot said that the biotech breakthrough that would make the biggest impact on the world would be the development of grains with drought-resistant characteristics that could be more successfully grown in rain-starved regions in Africa and other continents. "Drought is interesting," he said. "It's the big yield robber. If you could cure every disease in every field you could increase yield by about 20 percent. But if you could make these crops tolerant to drought you could double yields."

But he added that there are huge scientific obstacles to such research. Developing a plant with a gene that makes it resistant to a herbicide, while a complicated procedure, is a much more basic operation than changing a plant's relation with moisture and growth, he said. Instead, Lightfoot believes that the most significant advances in biotechnology over the next few years will be the development of varieties with favorable, value-added characteristics, such as high oil corn.