The persons in this camp identify benefits such as disease resistant plants and plants that produce higher yield with less maintenance cost. They eagerly point to the advances in corn production and other spheres as evidence of the safety and viability of genetic modification.
There is also a median position where the benefits of the technology are acknowledged but these persons believe that greater testing in the laboratory should be undertaken before any products are released into the wild. In the extreme position there are some who believe that all testing is essentially man tinkering with God's work and it should not be done at all. The main concern for GM is the introduction of new genes into the food system for human consumption. It is believed that the result of that activity will cannot be know in the short-term and by the time it is determined that it was not a good thing to do the health of the human family would already be highly compromised. The debate also plays itself out in the controversy over labeling food as genetically modified (Klintman, 2002, p. 72).
Through GM we are consuming more modified food than before. At present there are a myriad of uses for the genetic modification process in the food industry. From tomatoes that are resistant to fungus, cows that produce more milk, insect resistant corn and cotton, herbicide tolerant soya bean and alfalfa, and virus resistant papaya (Lemaux, 2006 p.5). Thus the growth of GM technology has in the main been directed by the potential for financial income through the sale of specialized crops.
It should be noted that genetic modification does...
It has potential in medicine also. It is possible to switch on or off genes in the human body and is so doing address specific diseases. This type of research is beset with ethical concerns well beyond the issue of eating specific foods. A major issue is the question of unintended consequences. The relationship between the different gene combinations within the human body is still shrouded in mystery. It is possible to turn of the gene that makes persons susceptible to sickle cell and at the same time do harm in some yet unknown way.
The truly central issue in years to come will be the question of the degree of control we should have in determining outcomes. Genetic modification is seen by many as a near panacea because of the potential for the complete control of traits. Essentially we can become what we want. The new problem will be that we may not know what we want.
References
GM Basics. (2003). GM food debate. Retrieved from http://www.food.gov.uk/gmdebate/aboutgm/gm_basics?view=GM%20Microsite
How it is done. (2002). Retrieved from http://www.bionetonline.org/english/content/ff_tool.htm#
Klintman, M. (2002). The genetically modified (GM) food labelling controversy: Ideological and epistemic crossovers. Social Studies of Science 32(1) 71-91.
Lassen, a. & Jamison, a. (2006). Genetic technologies meet the public: The discourses of concern. Science, Technology, & Human Values 31(1):8-28.
Lemaux, P.G. (2006). Introduction to genetic modification. Agricultural Biotechnology in California Series 8178: 1-5.
