By 2050, the world's population is projected to rise to 9 billion from just over 7 billion currently. Proponents of genetically modified foods say they are safe and can boost harvests even in bad conditions by protecting against pests, weeds and drought. This, they argue, will be essential to meeting the needs of a booming population in decades to come and avoiding starvation.

到 2050 年，预计世界人口数量将由现在的 70 多亿增至 90 亿。转基因食品的拥护者声称，转基因食品非常安全，且抗虫、抗杂草、抗旱，即使在恶劣的条件下仍能提高产量。他们辨称，转基因食品至关重要，能够满足未来几十年迅猛增长的人口需求，避免饥荒。

However, Doug Gu rian-Sherman, senior scientist for the food and environment program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, an advocacy group, said genetic engineering for insect resistance has provided only a modest increase in yields since the 1990s and drought-resistant strains have only modestly reduced losses from drought.

然而，美国忧思科学家联盟（一个支持转基因食品的团体）食品与环境项目的资深科学家 Doug Gurian-Sherman 先生说，自从 20 世纪 90 年代以来，旨在抵御病虫灾害的基因工程只是少量提高了农作物产量，旨在抵御干旱的植物品系仅仅稍微降低了干旱损失。

Moreover, he said conventional crossbreeding or cross-pollinating of different varieties for desirable traits, along with improved farming, is getting better results, boosting yields at a lower cost. In fact, much of the food Americans eat has been genetically modified by those conventional methods over thousands of years, before genetic engineering came into practice.

他还说道，（为了获得某种特性而进行的不同种类间的）传统的杂交和交叉授粉，加上先进的耕种方式，正以较低的成本获得较好的收成。事实上，在基因工程进入实践之前，美国人吃的大部分食物已经在数千年的传统种植中发生了基因变化。

“Overall, genetic engineering does not get nearly the bang for the buck as conventional breeding and improve agricultural practices,” Gu rian-Sherman said. His organization advises caution on GM foods and favors labeling, though it acknowledges the risks of genetic engineering have sometimes been exaggerated.

Doug Gurian-Sherman 先生说：“总体上，相对传统育种，基因工程并不划算，在提高农产品产量上，也并不突出。”他所在的组织建议对转基因食物保持警惕，并赞成标记此类食物，尽管它也承认，转基因食物的威胁有时候被夸大了。

Andrea Roberto Sonnino, chief of research at the U.N. food agency, said total food production at present is enough to feed the entire global population. The problem is uneven distribution, leaving870 million suffering from hunger. He said world food production will need to increase by 60 percent to meet the demands of 9 billion by 2050. This must be achieved by increasing yields, he added, because there is little room to expand cultivated land used for agriculture.

联合国粮农组织研究员 Andrea Roberto Sonnino 说，目前粮食产量足够养活全球人类。问题是分布不均，导致 8.7 亿人遭受饥饿。粮食产量需要提高 60%，以满足 2050 年时 9 亿人口的需要。他继续补充道，这一目标只有通过增加产量才能达到，因为农业耕地扩充的空间非常小。

Genetically modified foods, in some instances, can help if the individual product has been assessed as safe, he said. “It's an opportunity that we cannot just miss.”

如果单个食品能被评估为安全的，那么，在某些情况下，转基因食品是可行的。AndreaRoberto Sonnino 说道，“我们不能错失这样的机会。”