Concepts of Genetics 11th Edition by William Klug,Michael Cummings,Charlotte Spencer,Michael Palladino

Exercise 17

The Age of Genetics was created by remarkable advances in the use of biotechnology to manipulate plant and animal genomes. Given that the world population has topped 6 billion and is expected to reach 9.2 billion by 2050, some scientists have proposed that only the worldwide introduction of genetically modified (GM) foods will increase crop yields enough to meet future nutritional demands. Pest resistance, herbicide, cold, drought, and salinity tolerance, along with increased nutrition, are seen as positive attributes of GM foods. However, others caution that unintended harm to other organisms, reduced effectiveness to pesticides, gene transfer to nontarget species, allergenicity, and as yet unknown effects on human health are potential concerns regarding GM foods. If you were in a position to control the introduction of a GM primary food product (rice, for example), what criteria would you establish before allowing such introduction?