in Asia by up to 20% (“Benefits . . .”). All of these improvements, and countless others that will doubtlessly follow them, are only possible with genetically engineering.Despite all the benefits of food biotechnology, many people feel that GM plants should be banned completely, or at least be much more strictly regulated. While some people have religious or moral objections to genetic tampering, most are just upset about the plants’ safety for both humans and the environment. No studies have yet shown conclusive evidence that genetically engineered plants are harmful to either; however, the inherent untestability of GM food products means that even if there were harmful effects they would be very hard to demonstrate in laboratory tests.Most people who reject genetic engineering on a religious basis do so because they believe that men should not try to “play God” by tampering with the defined species that He created. They see bioengineering as blatant disrespect before God, and as extreme arrogance of man to assume that he can improve on what God created. Therefore, these objectors see genetic engineering as violating the free exercise clause of the First Amendment; tampering with genes or eating certain animals is against some religions, and without labeling of products containing bioengineered food people have no way of knowing whether what they buy contains GM products or not (“Why Genetically . . .”). For example, a Hindu to whom cows are sacred would have no way of knowing that produce she purchased contained bovine genetic material. While this reasoning could be used to make food companies label products containing plants with animals’ genetic material, there is no real valid argument for labeling foods containing genes for insecticides or other chemicals in trace amounts.Another faction of the public is worried about the so-called “terminator” technology pursued ...
