Sun, 22 Jun 2003

Headlong into extinction

Meacher urges GM crops caution. Ex-environment minister Michael Meacher warns the government against "rushing" the debate on genetically modified food. [BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition]

It may be that the Brits are rushing on GM foods - but the reason this guy wants to slow things down reflects a profound misunderstanding of the real danger of genetically modifying crops ... here's a hint: it has nothing to do with human health whatsoever.

When these things get loose in the enviroment and start to evolve themselves, and it's "when" not "if", the changes to the biosphere on Planet Earth are almost totally unpredictable. By the very process of genetic engineering, humans are literally "playing god" - that is, we are injecting and orderly will into the random nature of mutation and evolution. And we have absolutely no way of knowing what the long term effects of this will be.

To a lesser extent, the same thing happens when we cause an extinction , but extinction is actually less severe a consequence than dramatic and controlled mutation.

Humans will persist in these efforts, I'm sure. No government has the political will to say no for fear of being left behind. But the price of getting ahead may well be more than we care to pay. And we won't know until we get there....

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