Quote:
Originally posted by Azred:
Genetic engineering of plants to increase nutrition and/or crop yield is a really good thing. How could having more food be bad? Even if the content or yield is not changed, how about the hardiness of a plant? If a soy or wheat strain can grow in almost any terrain or climate then more land can become "farmland", effectively increasing yield. Also, don't forget about other manipulations such as the microbes used now to "eat" oil spills.
Genetically engineered animals could also benefit humanity by producing more milk and meat that is more nutritious.
I know it sounds like I am a cheerleader for genetic engineering, but I'm not. I simply think that when used safely and sanely, in moderation, that engineering can improve the health of humanity.
Genetic engineering for/on humans is good, if limited. Some diseases are now treated with gene therapy, which helps the body to create what it needs. How can that be bad? Stem cell research opens the door for organ transplants with organs either created from scratch or from the donee's own body. Again, how could this be wrong?
I think many people who think "all genetic engineering is bad" might be confusing genetic engineering with eugenics. GE is not going to create tall, athletic, and highly intelligent humans with a particular hair or eye color--that is a bad sci-fi plot, not reality. If a group of doctors say "we can give your child green eyes" then where is the surprise?
Another factor spoiling the idea are the people like the millionaire who donated lots of money to Texas A&M so they could clone his dog. [img]graemlins/erm.gif[/img] A clone of your dog is not your dog, at least not the dog you loved,because the clone will most likely have a different personality. Besides, the psychological damage you do to yourself in not letting go will cause more harm than your ephemeral happiness at seeing "your dog" alive again will lift your spirits--the clone, too, will eventually die.
Ethically, genetic engineering is no different than any other human activity. Just because you can do something doesn't mean that you should do it.
Religion actually has nothing to do with genetic engineering. As a human, are you nothing more than a sequence of nucleic acids? Cats have a genetic sequence, but humans have a soul, that [i]je ne sais quoi, that indefinable quality that sets us apart from the other animals. Well, at the very least, I am more than just a sequence of nucleic acid. [img]graemlins/laugh3.gif[/img]
[img]graemlins/wow.gif[/img] I would apologize for rambling on, but why? [img]graemlins/petard.gif[/img] [/b]
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We have bloody tons of milk and meat, more than we can handle. Likewise crops. The problem is not the amount of food in the world, it's the way it's distributed.
In fact, over production is a serious problem in Europe, due to massive subsidies that mean the developing world can't compete with our prices on the world market, (and so stay poor). Dunno about the US. Get rid of the subsidies, that'd sort out a lot of the developing world's hunger problems. They'd be able to export cash crops at a decent price, instead of trying to compete in the closed shop that's the Western 'free market' hahahahahaha. (A misnomer if I ever heard one...)
As for crops - ha. Don't make me laugh. Monsanto have engineered crops that are resistant to their pesticides (like Roundup Ready) - these crops can actually take more pesticide than your average crop. Also, a hell of a lot of studies have been done which show that GM crops, on average, produce no more than standard crops. They broadcast a lot of rubbish about how they're going to feed the word - it's all bunkum.
In India, farmers who have bought GM crops are forced to buy their seed for the following year's crop from the GM company - it's not allowed to save and plant their own seed. This is bankrupting a whole slew of farmers - suicides amongst third world farmers who bought into the whole GM thing because they believed the advertising and the sales people are rising exponentially.
GM feed the world? Don't make me laugh.
[ 07-09-2002, 02:41 PM: Message edited by: Silver Cheetah ]