But traditional plant breeders have never crossed apples with chickens or strawberries with fish. Genetic engineering permits scientists to manipulate genetic materials in ways that were once inconceivable. But the technology relies on methods that result in haphazard insertion of genetic elements into a plant's genetic code. This in turn may lead to disruption of complex gene interactions and unintended, potentially catastrophic results. It is a technology that has the power to transform food and the food supply in ways not possible with traditional breeding.
Genetic engineering is very different, very powerful and worth a great deal of caution.
Currently, the process of introducing genes is done through a limited number of relatively crude methods resulting in haphazard placement which in no way can be described as precise. The inability of developers of genetically engineered crops to fully understand what genes they are inserting into a plant cell was dramatically revealed in May 2000. Neither Monsanto nor government regulators had any idea the supposedly inactive pieces of genetic material were inserted during the process of engineering the crop. The science of genetic engineering as applied to agriculture has other fundamental differences with traditional plant breeding. One is that scientists insert marker genes, frequently one that codes for antibiotic resistance, in addition to the gene with the desired trait.