However, largely because of the unscientific policies of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Environmental Protection Agency, plant genetic engineering has realized only a small fraction of its potential.

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For decades plant biologists have used brute-force methods of genetic engineering to produce biotech seeds that kill bugs and withstand herbicides.

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Because a field trial with a genetically engineered plant may be 10 to 20 times more expensive than the same experiment performed with a plant that has identical properties but that was modified with less precise genetic techniques, genetic engineering with the best techniques has been vastly under-used for the past 25 years.

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