A new study published in the latest issue of "Science" finds GM rice to be a
 positive factor:

 Insect-Resistant GM Rice in Farmers' Fields: Assessing Productivity and
 Health Effects in China
 Jikun Huang, Ruifa Hu, Scott Rozelle, Carl Pray

 Science, Vol 308, Issue 5722, 688-690 , 29 April 2005

 Abstract
 Although no country to date has released a major genetically modified (GM)
 food
 grain crop, China is on the threshold of commercializing GM rice. This paper
 studies two of the four GM varieties that are now in farm-level preproduction
 trials, the last step before commercialization. Farm surveys of randomly
 selected farm households that are cultivating the insect-resistant GM rice
 varieties, without the aid of experimental station technicians, demonstrate
 that when compared with households cultivating non-GM rice, small and poor
 farm
 households benefit from adopting GM rice by both higher crop yields and
 reduced
 use of pesticides, which also contribute to improved health.

 Abstract at:  (login may be required)
 http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/308/5722/688

 Tom Billings