Biotechnology is currently reshaping agriculture throughout the world with over 16 million hectares planted annually to genetically modified (GM) soybeans, corn and cotton, mainly in the US, but increasingly in Australia, Asia and South America. Some controversy remains towards GM food products and there is still a reluctance to embrace GM crops in Europe, but GM cotton is partially buffered from these concerns, as only its highly processed oil is used for human consumption, and it is now being widely grown in many cotton producing counties.