Plant Genetic Engineering: Volume 5

G.P. Bolwell, University of London, UK ...This is a publication relating to a conference held in Havana, Cuba in December 1999. The book was published early in 2000 which is commendable given the timing of the conference and ensures that this volume is timely and topical. It gives an accurate account of that seminal meeting since the reviewer had the privilege to be present and be educated on the broader issues outside the excellent science presented. These issues relating to the ethical, economic and risk to the environment of GM are now global. Yet, this was a meeting that was a passionate reaffirmation of the reasons why this technology was developed in the first instance, global food security being major among them. Some of the applications discussed have been already used in the debate against the detractors, including the now well publicised work of Luis Herrera-Estrella in engineering aluminium resistance into crops to allow growth on marginal lands in poor countries. If any phytochemists need reassurance on how to approach a debate with anti-GM lobbyists they can find much ammunition between the covers. Phytochemistry, Vol. 56, No. 115 A.D. Arencibia ...illustrates some of the potential benefits from plant biotechnology for the Third Millennium. ...All contributors are actively engaged in research in plant genetic engineering and several are concerned directly with its commercial applications. CAB Abstracts