Their increased life expectancy is no accident. Extracting the natural agents that enable microbes to endure high doses of ultraviolet rays and transform it into sun cream for beachgoers and possibly an armor that could shield astronauts traveling to other planets. Altering the genes of mosquitoes to prevent them from carrying diseases such as malaria and even change their diet so they snack on animals rather than people. The trend with biotech, experts say, is to deliver more products in a smaller space, essentially to make it cheaper in the long run for companies to do business with products that also yield less waste. That ethos is quite attractive to some environmentalists, but they say troubling questions remain about the wisdom of tinkering with forms of life.
Critics say that by the time a problem is identified it's already too late to ameliorate the damage.
Concern over such things as the the pollen dust of Bt corn killing monarch butterflies, which prompted the protests in Minneapolis, is only the tip of the iceberg. A few months ago, the World Bank commissioned a blue-ribbon panel to examine the risks of genetically modified crops on human health and natural ecosystems. Demonstrators opposed to genetic testing clashed with police in Minneapolis July 24. The protest was held in response to the International Society of Animal Genetics conference. The conclusion was that transgenic crops represent a rapid acceleration of the hybridization process that has been going on for centuries with everything from orchids to house pets.