Are we tampering with nature in an unethical way?

Expert response from Community Manager

Moderator for GMOAnswers.com

Friday, 22/05/2015 12:31

Arthur Caplan, PhD, answered a similar question posted on GMO Answers: With all your 'Messing with nature', can you be sure that no negative impact on the future of our planet will be caused by your Genetic Modification, surely blind forced evolution is a dangerous game to play? Caplan provides the following response:

 

“Messing with nature is a very bad idea. Intervening in an intelligent, tested and proven way, as we do with vaccines, medicines, controlled burns, creating natural parks, domesticating animals and creating new species of fruits and vegetables, is what is required. Critics of GMO sometimes say we should not ‘play God.’ But it is not the God part of the objection that worries me. We are not close to being smart enough or creative enough or even peaceful enough to engage that role. What we cannot have is ‘playing’ or what you call ‘messing around.’ We need to closely regulate who can use GMO, when, where, why and with what penalties if they cause harms.”