Why is there continuing debate about the merits of genomic technologies and food?

Given challenges facing agriculture and public health there remains an urgent need for new technologies to expand production to feed the world’s expected population. However, for food, technology remains an uncomfortable concept for many people. In some countries, this slows down the regulatory approval (even to health enhancing functional foods) and in others the absence of labelling regulations has created a commercial non GMO verification system with its own economic costs for the entire food system. There are considerable inequities in the distribution of costs from either restrictions on the use of the technologies or the creation of parallel technology free products. Given long standing angst about genetic modification and food, there are concerns about newer genomic technologies such as gene editing and gene drives, and their potential for success. Scientists are firmly of the belief they are breeding and there is no need for regulation. However, given history, the public may remain suspicious about these technologies and complete lack of any oversight may become a weakness in the longer term.