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Asked by kayleighls to Andrew, Beth, Bruce, Lindy, Lizzie on 15 Jun 2012.
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Beth Mortimer answered on 15 Jun 2012:
It is a tricky question. A lot of scientists do genetic engineering with a range of plants, animals and bacteria, but often the reason that they do it is to help human health, food or industry. So it really depends on why they are doing it and whether you think it is ‘worth it’. Everyone will give a different answer depending on the organism being genetically engineered (bacteria ok, apes not ok?), and the reason for it (cancer research ok, cosmetic research not ok?). My worry is because it has not been going on for long, the long term effects of genetic engineering are not known, particularly in the case of crops which are grown in fields. We don’t know to what extent these man-made genes may pass around (every between species) and kill off animals pests which may be important to non-crop ecosystems.
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Bruce Alexander answered on 15 Jun 2012:
Yes and no, but I do not believe that genetic engineering is inhumane in itself.
Genetic engineering is not new, arguably over 10,000 years old. OK, so this might be a bit of a stretch, but humans have been breeding plants for specific properties (like a good crop of fruit) for centuries and this resulted in specific plant varieties that have evolved to our benefit over the years. Cross-breeding plants improve these traits so that you can end up with crops that are more resistant to drought, or pests, for example.
This is generic engineering, is this inhumane? No (unless we are being picky by saying that plants are not human).
And what can be done on plants, can equally be applied to any other living thing. The extreme case of genetic engineering is cloning, such as Dolly the Sheep. Some people are concerned about “designer babies” that *might* result in genetic engineering. These might be the end product of genetic engineering, but it is wrong to blame genetic engineering on such provocative examples. Genetic engineering is a tool that has been around for some time, it is how we use the tool that is critical. Any time humans use tools recklessly, we risk causing harm. It matters little what the tool is. The ethical use of new techniques in genetic engineering all hinges on us knowing AND understanding all of the risks associated with our actions. This understanding of what the risks actually are, will be vital when the genetic engineering debate starts again over the next few years.
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