Genetic engineering

Genetic engineering or [recombinant DNA technology]? involves the isolation, manipulation and reintroduction of DNA into model organisms. Since a protein is specified by a DNA segment or gene, future copies of that protein can be modified by modifying the underlying DNA of that gene. One way to do this is to isolate the DNA, cut it, and splice in a different DNA segment. Daniel Nathans and Hamilton Smith received the Nobel Prize for their isolation of restriction endonucleases, which are able to cut DNA at specific sites. Together with ligase, which can join fragments of DNA, restriction enzymes formed the initial basis of recombinant DNA technology.

The supporters of genetic engineering insist that it is a harmless, or even a beneficial endeavour. As these proponents are almost always in a position to profit from this field, such claims must be carefully scrutinized. For example, American maize farmers and seed producers have benefitted financially from the development of varieties that are toxic to plant eating insects. However, the genes for this resistance have rapidly left the American fields, and are now present in multiple strains of wild and domestic maize. This amounts to a comtamination of the very gene pool from which the domestic maize was derived. Genetic releases such as this represent the opening of a Pandora's Box which may ultimately accelerate the collapse of the modern non-sustainable system of agriculture, decreasing rather than increasing the food supply. There is, at the present time and with present recombinant methods, no way to insure that genetically modified organisms remain under control, and the use of this technology outside of a secure laboratory enviromnent carries grave risks for the future.