Learning about Agricultural Biogechnology Genetic engineering is one of the hottest topics of current public debate in
environmental science. Proponents portray this science as a technological leap
that will bestow incalculable benefits on us, while opponents claim this is
a slippery slope toward ecological and economic ruin. You will find a plethora
of information pro and con about this topic on the Internet. Visit some of the
sites listed below, or find other sites by conducting a web search for the terms
"genetic engineering," "gene transfer," or "genetically modified organisms."
Find at least one source on each side of this controversy, and analyze their
arguments. Don't take any single source or study as the last word on a subject.
Remember that for every expert or fact there is always an equal and opposite
expert or fact. 1. What sources are quoted, or what links to other pages are referenced in
the information you have found? 2. Are scientific studies quoted as evidence for the authors' positions? Where
were they published? Were the studies peer reviewed? What is the reputation
of the journal being quoted? 3. Are the presentations moderate and balanced, or shrill, strident calls
to action? Are they attempting to sway your emotions with loaded terms like
"Frankenfoods" or "Terminator genes"? Is useful information obscured by technical
jargon? 4. Who is responsible for the pages you've found? What do you know about the
political agendas of these groups? Remember that environmental or social activism
groups aren't necessarily unbiased. They may want to scare you to persuade
you to support their cause or to donate money to support their organization. 5. Look for deceptive names of groups that aren't what they seem. Innocuous-sounding
names like Committee for the Environment or the Environmental Health Organization
could be industry fronts attempting to push a self-interested agenda. 6. After reviewing the information you found, what is your assessment of biotechnology?
What limits--if any--to research and application in this area would you want
to see imposed? Should some areas of science be out-of-bounds? Would you
personally eat genetically modified foods?
Try these sites: The Environmental Risks of Transgenic
Crops: an Agroecological Assessment (http://www.pmac.net/miguel.htm) Transgenic
crops: An introduction and resource guide (http://www.colostate.edu/programs/lifesciences/TransgenicCrops/) The Field of Genes (http://whyfiles.org/062ag_gene_eng/) The
New Scientist: Genetically Modified Foods (http://www.newscientist.com/nsplus/insight/gmworld/gmfood/super.html) | 
2002 McGraw-Hill Higher Education