THE DANGERS OF
GENETICALLY ENGINEERED FOOD
THE DANGERS OF
GENETICALLY ENGINEERED FOOD
Within recent years, the biotechnology industry has launched a massive enterprise to genetically re-structure our food supply. Already, numerous products on the grocery shelves are results of re-configured DNA. If the process continues unabated, your grains, beans, fruits and vegetables will soon contain genes from a variety of insects, bacteria and animals.
Although this radical technology is extolled by its promoters as a major advance, many scientists and theologians have warned it's a grave mistake. Not only does it pose an unprecedented threat to the biosphere, it severely violates the natural order and contravenes basic principles of most religions.
Moreover, you currently have little choice as to whether you ingest its products. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has decided you do not have the right to know if your food has been genetically distorted -- even if such foods violate your religious principles. Consequently, an increasing number of products with re-configured DNA are coming to market unlabeled.
Therefore, it's important you learn more about genetically engineered foods and their potential impact on your life. The following paragraphs more fully explain why this vast program of genetic manipulation is so hazardous, why it is so contrary to natural law, and why immediate action is so imperative. They also describe the steps that you can take to withdraw your participation from this ill-conceived venture (and to help others do the same), thus protecting the integrity of your principles, your food, and earth's intricate system of life.
UNDERSTANDING THE HAZARDS: From the Perspectives of Both Science and Religion
1. From the Standpoint of Science
The effects of genetically engineering the world's food supply are in large part (a) unpredictable, (b) undesirable, (c) uncontrollable, and (d) irreversible.
Unpredictability
Genetic engineering cannot deliver precise results. Genes often have multiple functions, and a gene that's selected for one may possess others that are deleterious. Further, even if the direct effects are positive, the side effects may not be. Genes influence one another in complex ways, and a gene from a foreign species could cause unexpected problems within a new host environment. Moreover, the ecosystem may respond in unpredictable ways. Researchers at Michigan State University discovered that when plants are engineered to resist viruses, the viruses sometimes mutate into new, more potent forms, or forms that instead attack other plant species. Nor is it clear how our human systems will respond. Splicing bacterial genes into edible plants frequently yields proteins that have never been in human food and could have harmful long-term effects.
Undesirability
In addition to the unanticipated results, many of the intended ones are problematic as well. For instance, biotech companies focus almost 60% of their research on plants that can tolerate herbicides. It's estimated this will triple the use of these toxic chemicals, increasing pollution of the soil, ground water, and the food chain.
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