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With an ever-increasing global population, hunger in the developing world, and the health risks of pesticides, some experts view genetically modified food as a panacea. Others view it as one of the most serious threats to human civilization. These diametrically opposing views point to an ethical dilemma, that will certainly be difficult to resolve: whether the benefits of developing and supplying the world with genetically modified foods outweigh future consequences that these products may have for the human species, animal life, and the ecosystem.
Plant and animal modification is not a new concept. Before genetic engineering, gene modification was accomplished through breeding. The traditional breeding method ultimately produces the same desired effect as genetic engineering, but it occurs over a much longer time span and is self-limiting. Selected individual genes are transferred from one organism to another between plants and between animals, but not between plants and animals. Through genetic engineering, genes can be transferred between any organisms: A hypothetical example might be a gene from a fish that lives in cold seas being inserted into a strawberry so that the strawberry could survive frost (Better Health Channel, 1999).
Genetic engineering (GE) belongs to the field of biotechnology, which is the science governing genetic modification, genetic engineering, genetic manipulation, other gene technologies, and recombinant-DNA technology. Recently, use of biotechnology has expanded from the pharmaceutical and medical industries into the agricultural industry.
The collective term "genetically modified organisms," or GMOs, is used frequently in regulatory documents and in the scientific literature to describe "plants, animals and microorganisms which have had DNA introduced into them by means other than by combination of an egg and a sperm or by natural bacterial conjugation" (Institute of Food Science & Technology, 2004). For instance, the genetic makeup of plants can be altered to produce insect-resistant plants. Genetic engineering may also produce animals, plants, or bacteria that contain desired nutrients.
Despite government approval of genetically modified foods in the nation's foods supply, genetically modified food (GMF) does pose philosophical problems (Formanek, 2001). Opponents argue that government agencies are violating their religious and consumer rights, while proponents have taken a utilitarian approach, arguing that...