I need not remind you that the latter practice led to a number of tragic deaths of children. We can also alleviate the sufferings of haemophiliacs with unlimited sources of coagulation factors free from the AIDS or Hepatitis C viruses, which have killed many patients. For that alone, I think we should be grateful to biotechnology. Take the situation on rare diseases. As most of them are caused by genetic disorders, the advances in gene technology will contribute very much to the understanding of the causes of these diseases and perhaps lead to a cure.
Gene therapy is currently the biggest hope for people suffering from genetic diseases.
Without biotechnology, the causes of such diseases could not have been tackled. However, even though science is an indispensable basis for decisions on food safety measures, we have to acknowledge the inescapable limitations on its role. Determining the acceptable level of risk is a political exercise and cannot be confined to science alone. Let me now conclude. Consumers not only want to understand, for instance the health and nutritional implications of their choices, but, in many cases, they are interested in the environmental and ethical implications of the way the products are produced.