GENETIC ENGINEERING - clicar aqui

GENETIC ENGINEERING: A CAUTIONARY APPROACH

The Institute of Science, Technology and Public Policy has taken a strong precautionary stand on genetic engineering. In collaboration with leading scientists and other public service organizations, it has launched a nation-wide public awareness campaign to alert the public about the dangers of genetically engineered foods, and is calling for rigorous safety testing and mandatory labeling of such foods.

Safety First

Genetic Engineering of Humans
Genetic engineering, or "recombinant DNA technology", is a radical new technology for transplanting genetic characteristics of one species into another. It has been used thus far primarily for agriculture--for the creation, patenting and commercializing of genetically modified living organisms. (For example, the splicing of a specific flounder gene for producing a unique blood "antifreeze" protein into tomatoes, to render them frost resistant; splicing insect proteins into zucchinis to create a taste and fragrance that is repugnant to other insect pests; or growing potatoes endowed with built-in pesticides.)
The biotech industry's rationale for the genetic engineering of humans is the predisposition of human beings (or of a specific sub-population) to certain diseases. If such human frailties could be fortified by genetically transplanting traits of other animals, insects, bacteria or viruses, then it might be possible for biotechnologists to improve upon our species.
Unfortunately, the dangers posed by such genetic surgery are profound. Most genes in the human genome perform multiple functions, and little is known about these complex interactions among genes. Also, gene sequence is important, and there is essentially no control over where, in the human DNA strand, the foreign genes will end up.
Most important, genetic surgery performed on fetuses would, with high probability, infect the germ line (egg or sperm) cells. As a consequence, any such genetic defects would be passed on to future generations, causing irreversible gene pollution and the potential for new genetic diseases. In addition to the immediate and long-term gross health risks posed by irreversible gene pollution, we have no idea what the subtle--even spiritual--effects of incomplete or mutated human DNA will be on the human race.
Note that if such proposed in utero gene transplant experiments are approved, the resulting newborns would be the first humans that are not fully human--who have alien characteristics of viruses and other species.
In September 1998, and January 1999, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) conducted public hearings on whether to proceed with government funding for in utero genetic engineering of humans. The Institute of Science, Technology and Public Policy presented testimony urging a moratorium on such genetic experiments, which won the support of the press and enough members of the NIH that funding for such experiments was postponed.
Unfortunately, this issue is certain to come up again, since the pressure from the biotech industry is intense. Moreover, the current ban pertains only to public funding. Well financed biotech firms are free to proceed with human gene research using their own resources.
It is vitally important that we, as a society, protect ourselves and future generations against the dangers of irreversible gene pollution. The policing of such research will not be done by the biotech industry, who are strongly incentivized to experiment with and commercialize their gene mutations. Nor is the government, which has close economic ties with the biotech industry, monitoring such research. Therefore, we must do it.
Please monitor our Institute of Science, Technology and Public Policy website of the for updates on this critical subject. Your attention is critical.