IGEM:Harvard/2010/Human Practices
From OpenWetWare
Brainstorming
Controversy over GM foods
- "Playing God"
- Safety
- Whether GM foods safe for consumption (assumption that unnatural things are bad for you)
- Danger of cross-contamination to other crops, spreading the foreign DNA constructs
- Legal - ownership of GM plants and sales (Monsato)
- Sustainability - economically and environmentally.
- Harming wildlife :: Transgenic pollen harms monarch larvae (Nature, Vol 399, No 6733, p 214, May 20, 1999)[[1]] - could be likened to the DDT effect on Bald Eagle eggs exposed in Silent Spring (Rachel Carson)
- Outcompeting other plant species (indigenous ones)
Also to consider -
- Public perceptions of genetic engineering (Splice)
- one thing we are trying to do with this project is to inform the public about genetic engineering and synthetic biology - we want to show them how it is done, rather than letting the media do all the talking. We want to make the processes accessible
Our safety concerns:
- Genetic fence -- preventing cross pollination and spread of the GM plants.
- Consumer safety -- making sure that the plant doesn't require that the consumer uses harmful chemicals, making the process simple and safe.
- Making sure our constructs are not harmful.
From google - a simple overview of GMOs [[2]]
- creating unintended allergens
- unknown effects on human health
Ireland enacts GMO-Free Policy [[3]] "Green" Farming vs. Genetic Modification -- can they work together