Are genetically modified crops agriculture's green epiphany or are they diabolical seeds sowed by the devil? This has been the prickly question debated by proponents of GM crops and activists opposing them. [...] Given the crisis facing the planet, with the population set to breach the nine billion mark by 2050 and increasing strains placed on water, energy and food resources, it would be wrong to hope there could be a silver bullet, the British government's science adviser Sir John Beddington recently said in an Observer interview. [...] It would also be foolish not to make maximum use of the new technologies that we are developing in order to alleviate some of the worst dangers we will face in the decades ahead. [...] ”Just look at the problems that the world faces, water shortages and salination of existing water supplies, for an example. GM crops should be able to deal with that.”