| Answer: | lt' snaturalforpiants,animaisandmicroorganisms to change. The trouble with genetic modification is that, by inserting a gene into a plant or animal, it creates a significant and rapid shift, the long-term consequences of which are unknown. Of course we' ll find out, but at what cost?
And in fact, I foresee some major problems with genetically modified foods. The pro lobby argues that GM crops increase food production. Whether this is
done for social or commercial interests is a matter of opinion. In any case, it has often been bad agricul- tural practice in the first place that has caused poor plant yields by stripping soil of nutrients and forcing food growth with chemicals. Organic farming practices aim to restore healthy soil and plant growth.
I think the government should be promoting organic farming more than GM technology. But my real objection to GM food is twofold. First off, GM crops affect the environment: they can contaminate other plants. This is a major concern because, in the broader sense, what we would be doing is interfering with the fundamental ecological balance that has evolved over millions of years. The real question for me is, whom do I trust more here? Nature or the food industry?
Recently, scientists in Britain have reported the results of trials in which the fields with GM crops had fewer weeds and insects; this was seen as a threat to the country' s already depleted wildlife. And in Canada, one of the first countries trying out GM strains of seeds, the consequences have been diabolical.The seeds were genetically modified to be resistant to herbicides so that the fields could be sprayed with them and only the crop would grow. The promise was greater yields, but the reality has been the opposite. The genetic modifications have spread, creating ' superweeds' . The GM strains have travelled much further than expected, contaminating organic farms and, in essence, threatening to put them out of business.
Secondly, there' s very little research on the effects on humans who eat the crops, in either the short or long term. The first human blunder happened in 1989, when a GM organism was used to produce cheap tryptophan, a constituent of protein. Thousands of people who consumed it got sick, and 17 died. This alone is good reason to proceed with extreme caution.
If genetic alterations can easily jump from plant to plant, as we' ve seen in Canada, they can alsotheoretically jump to the humans who eat them, or at
least, alter biochemical reactions to what are, in essence, new foods. |
