Biotechnology and the Environment

The nature of the relationship between biotechnology products and the environment is highly controversial. While agricultural biotechnology has great promise for the obtaining of both more food and a higher quality environment, there is currently much anxiety as to whether this promise is an illusion. There are those who argue that there are no new nor unique hazards that accompany biotechnology, that it is a natural extension of past plant and animal breeding successes. Any risks that might occur are similar to those associated with those risks accompanying plants and animals from more traditional agricultural breeding. Thus, there are neither different nor greater safety concerns presented by biotechnology than we have dealt with in the past (GAO 1993; Tiedje et al. 1989). Many vehemently disagree and assert that biotechnology is a radical new method posing unknown and unpredictable risks. Therefore, there must be extraordinary caution in the development and use of biotechnology products (GAO 1993; Rissler and Mellon 1993). There is much to examine within this topic, including issues of food safety.1 However, this brief discussion explores (without attempt at validation) only the arguments that frame the debate of the environmental impacts of agricultural biotechnology.