A Debate on the Genetic Alteration of Foods

In the not-so-distant past, tomatoes were never bred with pigs, nor were strawberries bred with fish, nor apples bred with chickens. However, recent advancements in the field of biotechnology now allow scientists to transcend the laws of Nature. In today's agriculture, dozens of food crops have been genetically altered in order to improve growing characteristics or to enhance their qualities for the market, and these crops are being prepared for commercial production (Bahr 621). Large companies …

…by one author, a worldwide moratorium should be declared on releasing genetically engineered food crops into the environment pending further study of the potential environmental and health risks and liability issues posed by their release (Rifkin). It would be an unforgivable, and most likely unrepairable, mistake to continue seeding farmland with genetically engineered food crops when we have yet to develop even a rudimentary risk assessment science by which to regulate these new agricultural products.