Critics say genetically altered seeds will ruin the land, but they're gaining in popularity. A decade ago, critics called them "Frankenfoods" and forecast that these "sci-fi" foods grown from gene-altered seeds would turn America's fertile lands into unwanted and barren deserts.
But a milestone in genetic engineering passed in relative silence this spring, as farmers planted more than 1 billion acres in genetically modified seeds. An estimated 85 percent of the soybeans and 50 percent of the corn crop growing in the United States this year has at least one biotech trait, and bioengineering seeds are available for canola, papaya, cotton, potatoes and tomatoes.