Predicting the Outcome of GM

Archived

Friday, 14 March 2003

HOW WELL CAN SCIENCE PREDICT THE OUTCOME
OF GENETIC MODIFICATION?

Of all the known forms of matter, a living thing is uniquely endowed with inheritance – the prodigious power to reproduce itself. Genetic modification is an artificial form of inheritance in which the natural process, that generally requires the transfer of an entire living cell, is replaced by the transfer of only DNA – a substance that occurs universally in the genetic apparatus of all living things, but is itself a lifeless chemical. This artificial, transgenic, process is burdened by a built-in assumption: that DNA’s genetic capability is unique, self-contained and not shared with any other cellular component – an assumption that deserves careful, critical attention.

To read this article by Professor Barry Commoner (University of New York), visit www.gm-news.co.uk