Perhaps he is truly the first human victim of a genetically modified crop.

ECONOMIST: Potato-heads

The sweet potato is sub-Saharan Africa's first genetically modified crop, and its yields so far are double that of the regular plant.

FORBES: Millions Served

It was only this month that France approved commercial production of its first genetically modified crop: a pest-resistant maize from Novartis, a Swiss drug and agricultural company.

ECONOMIST: Marketing weird stuff: I’m modified, buy me | The

But some poorer countries, such as India (which is just harvesting its first crop of genetically modified cotton), are worried that their farmers will be shut out of European markets because they will not have the means to comply.

ECONOMIST: Invasion of the transgenics

Roughly 80% of the crop there has been genetically modified to resist one of three different herbicides used to kill weeds.

ECONOMIST: Genetically modified crops