animals by surgically precise manipulation of the DNA that makes up their genes This manipulation bypasses the natural barriers between species, so theoretically a gene from any living thing, plant or animal or microbe, can be introduced into any other Genetic engineering is still in its infancy, and to date has had a limited impact on the foods we eat In the United States, an estimated 75% of all processed foods now contain genetically modified ingredients But this remarkable figure is due to just three agricultural commodities — soybean, canola, and corn — all of them modified for improved resistance to insect pests or herbicides As I write in 2004, the only other significant engineered U.S crop is Hawaiian papaya, which is now resistant to a formerly devastating virus disease A few other foods are processed with enzymes made in engineered microbes — for example, much cheese is coagulated with rennet made by microbes into which the cattle gene for the enzyme has been inserted But in general, our raw ingredients remain relatively untouched by genetic engineering This will certainly change in coming years, and not just in the West: China also has a very active program in agricultural biotechnology Genetic engineering is the modern fruit of agriculture itself, an outgrowth of the ancient human realization that living things can be shaped to human desires That shaping began when the first farmers selectively cultivated plants and animals that grew larger or tasted better or looked more interesting In its own way, this simple process of observation and selection became a powerful biological technology It gradually revealed the hidden potential for diversity within individual species, and made that potential real in the form of hundreds of distinct ... years, and not just in the West: China also has a very active program in agricultural biotechnology Genetic engineering is the modern fruit of agriculture itself, an outgrowth of the ancient human realization that... when the first farmers selectively cultivated plants and animals that grew larger or tasted better or looked more interesting In its own way, this simple process of observation and selection became... biological technology It gradually revealed the hidden potential for diversity within individual species, and made that potential real in the form of hundreds of distinct