Letters to the Editor
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Enviro-Luddites, indeed
In my experience, any time you talk about GM-crops, people have a rather visceral reaction to them. Whether religious or environmental, most folks are rather Luddites about genetically modified foods. Right up until you talk about engineering traits into plants that *consumers* will want, rather than traits that have been useful to producers. The first generation of GM-crops were produced almost solely to the benefit of producers (think BT-corn and BT-cotton - both have tremendously improved yields for farmers). The next generation of traits to be engineered will be for consumers. Think caffeine-free coffee (that hasn't been treated so roughly that it tastes like crap). Think allergen-free peanuts, so your kid can bring peanut butter to school again. Think altering the fat content in vegetable oils so that you can get your Omega-3s from corn oil instead of from dwindling fish stocks. Think fat-free bacon (just kidding, who would want that anyway?). I think when these things get closer to market, we'll start having major changes in perception about GM foods.
You'll never get a group of scientists to say that GM-foods as a class will be safe in perpetuity. Reason being is it's a nonsensical statement. It would be rather like demanding that chemists say that every chemical ever made in the future will be safe. Offhand, I can think of half a dozen ways to engineer plants to not only make them not safe, but to make them lethal. But we can say that GM-crops currently in use are as safe as non-GM crops currently in use.
As to the spread of these traits into wild populations, this is not a real issue. For a trait to be spread to the wild, it has to confer an advantage - in the wild. Most agricultural plants have been so inbred for our very specific uses, then throw in a genetic modification or twelve, and these are plants that require our constant care to keep them happy. You won't have wild wheat rampaging through the plains of the Serengetti. Domesicated plants are generally pretty messed up, which is why we need farmers. GM-domesticated plants are even more so.