in the cells of living things. Genes tell a plant to produce pink flowers. Genes tell an animal to grow black hair. Now scientists move genes from one living thing to another. That process is called genetic engineering.

Wambugu spent three years at the lab. She created a sweet potato plant using the techniques of genetic engineering. This sweet potato plant could actually fight off the virus. Wambugu tested her research in Kenya. Her plants produced magnificent sweet potatoes.

Wambugu believes that’s just the beginning. Genetically modified foods, she argues, could help farmers in poor countries grow desperately needed crops. “What farmers need,” Wambugu says, “is technology that is packaged in the seed.” She believes expensive chemicals and machines aren’t needed. Further, she argues that by creating strong plants that farmers can raise simply, fewer people will go hungry.

Scientists disagree about genetically modified food and the question of how to feed the world is widely debated. Now read different viewpoints–one pro and one con–about this new technology.

A worker checks genetically modified rice in Africa.