The technology to produce genetically engineered (GE) plants is celebrating its 30th anniversary and one of the major achievements has been the development of GE crops. The safety of GE crops is crucial for their adoption and has been the object of intense research work often ignored in the public debate. We have reviewed the scientific literature on GE crop safety during the last 10 years, built a classified and manageable list of scientific papers, and analyzed the distribution and composition of the published literature. We selected original research papers, reviews, relevant opinions and reports addressing all the major issues that emerged in the debate on GE crops, trying to catch the scientific consensus that has matured since GE plants became widely cultivated worldwide. The scientific research conducted so far has not detected any significant hazards directly connected with the use of GE crops; however, the debate is still intense. An improvement in the efficacy of scientific communication could have a significant impact on the future of agricultural GE. Our collection of scientific records is available to researchers, communicators and teachers at all levels to help create an informed, balanced public perception on the important issue of GE use in agriculture.

In the EU, the regulatory burdens for GE crop approval are extremely heavy (Kalaitzandonakes et al., 2007), de facto excluding the public sector and minor crops from the development of GE technology. As a result, the number of experimental releases of GE crops is rapidly decreasing (Löchte, 2012) and even large companies are abandoning GE (Dixelius et al., 2012; Laursen, 2012). This scenario is the result of the interaction of complex sociological and psychological factors, risk/benefit ratios, political aspects and an unbalanced scientific communication.
All these factors have to be considered globally and taken into account in a constructive debate on whether the GE crops represent a strategic resource for the future. An improvement in the efficacy of the scientific communication to stakeholders, as clearly demonstrated in the case of the recent case of GE wheat field trials in the UK (Löchte, 2012), could have a significant impact on the future of agricultural GE.
We believe that genetic engineering and GE crops should be considered important options in the efforts toward sustainable agricultural production. Our collection of scientific records is available to researchers, communicators and teachers at all levels to help create an informed and balanced public perception on the hot issue of GE use in agriculture.

What do you think about the rebuttal, Turkey? This is not an issue I'm particulary engaged with, so I doubt my opinion will be worth much. From what I've heard, I'd definitely say that GMO's can be of great use to us and that the ethical concerns don't hold that much weight, but it does seem that there may be significant risks to them for both the humans who consume them and potentially the environment too.