Chapter 4 - Can genetic modification go wrong, and what if it does?

Abstract

Humans began to alter the genetic composition of organisms at the dawn of civilization. Although natural modification in response to evolutionary forces is an on-going process, it does not elicit the concern that human-mediated modification does. Reports of harm fall into two general categories, those that affect food safety and those that lead to environmental concerns. Most reports single out crop plants despite the fact that all types of organisms get modified. Because human-mediated modification has been going on both casually and deliberately for millennia, it is possible to look back, examine the effects from specific modifications, and characterize any possible harm that results from them. Many reports of harm turn out to have no association with human-mediated modification. In general, harmful effects to food safety from modification have been rare and minor. Most environmental issues range from subtle to localized problems. Importantly, the type of negative effects seen is completely unrelated to the process used to make modifications and instead, is a function of the type of trait that has been altered. It is highly implausible that any future modifications could have greater adverse effects than the worse effect seen thus far.