Princess Anne has said the genetic modification of crops will make the UK "better at producing food".
Princess Anne
The 66-year-old royal has spoken out in favour of using scientific technology to create genetically modified (GM) crops, as she believes growing food this way will have real benefits in the "value" of the crops the UK produces.
Genetic modification of crops involves changing the DNA of plants using genetic engineering techniques, in order to give the plant a trait which does not occur naturally in the species.
Speaking on UK radio station BBC Radio 4's 'Farming Today' show, the Princess Royal said: "GM is one of those things that divides people, but surely if we're going to be better at producing food of the right value then we have to accept that genetic technology - whether you call it modification or anything else - is going to be part of that.
"Most of us will argue that we've been genetically modifying food since man started to be agrarian but everybody will say 'well it doesn't happen so quickly'.
"So being able to understand what those changes mean, if you change one aspect of a plant then how does it affect the rest of the environment around it, does it have a long-term impact?
"There's probably a very long-term impact and we may not see that for quite a long time. And to say 'no we mustn't go there just in case' is probably not a practical argument.
"And I do think that in the future, your gene technology has got real benefits to offer, which will have maybe an occasional downside, but I suspect not very many."
Princess Anne's views on GM crops are likely to clash with her older brother Prince Charles, however, as he has long been an advocate of ending genetic modification and is the royal patron of the Soil Association, which has campaigned against GM crops and using GM ingredients in human and animal food.
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