Science has provided an objective, systematic means to understand the laws of nature and to apply the knowledge it provides for the benefit of both individuals and communities. Agriculture and food production have been major participants in this process. Up until now two key technologies which have produced profound agricultural revolutions have been the mechanisation of farming which began in the 19th century and the chemical based paradigm which developed chiefly after the second world war. Both technologies represent interventions by man in the 'natural order of things', but do so at quite different levels of natural law. The chemical approach acts at a level which is considerably more complex than the mechanical, and as a result requires a much more extensive breadth of knowledge for it to be applied without creating unintentional life-damaging effects.
Few people question the value of the mechanisation of agriculture.
However, over the years hindsight has required the withdrawal of various agro-chemical products from use because of their damage to health or the environment, and even now the true effect of those that remain in use is not fully understood. These difficulties arise because the technology is applied at a level of nature's functioning in respect of which science's own knowledge base is inadequate. Additionally errors made at the chemical level are much more pervasive and insidious than those made at a mechanical level. Higher yields, production from otherwise unproductive land, reduced chemical usage, improved nutritional content of food and many other hoped for benefits are the goal of this new technology. But genetic engineering operates on the basis of manipulating and controlling the DNA of living organisms.