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Biotechnologists have a “compelling moral imperative” to offer genetically
modified crops to poorer countries that want them, according to a report from
the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, Britain’s premier panel on the issues thrown
up by advances in biology. “More food for the hungry, unlike tomatoes with a
longer shelf life, is a strong ethical counterweight to set against the concerns
of opponents of GM crops,” it says. However, the report’s authors say that few
of the engineered plant varieties currently being grown are likely to benefit
developing countries.