For many, the response is an emotional one, based on something other than an understanding of what biotechnology really is. For some, the response is based on a fear of the unknown or an inability to understand exactly what is involved, while others believe that we are somehow messing with the natural order of things. For still others, the response is based on the notion that science and scientists are not qualified to make decisions concerning the use of the available technology. A dissection of the word itself provides some clues. Let s begin from the back.
Biotechnology literally means then the study of techniques applied in living systems.
Nothing more and nothing less. First, I believe as a population, we have watched too many movies, watched too much TV and read too many tabloids. Hollywood has convinced a good share of us that scientists are cold and calculating beings with no regard for anything but their own creations. In Europe, products derived from commodities that have been genetically enhanced are called Franken Foods, an obvious reference to a movie in which a mad scientist created life by some mystical process, thereby unleashing a monster on the world. It should give us all pause that otherwise rational human beings could draw that parallel if they bothered to understand the facts.