Opinion ID: 448992
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Genetic Engineering

Text: 11 Genetic engineering is an important development at the very cusp of scientific advances. More than a decade ago scientists discovered a method for transplanting deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), the principal substance of genes. Although exchanges and mutations of DNA occur in nature, genetic engineering provides the ability to control these fundamental processes of life and evolution. DNA segments can be recovered and cloned from one organism and inserted into another. The result is known as recombinant DNA. See generally 41 Fed.Reg. 27903-27904 (July 7, 1976), Joint Appendix (JA) 231-232; OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT, U.S. CONGRESS, COMMERCIAL BIOTECHNOLOGY: AN INTERNATIONAL ANALYSIS 33-38 (January 1984). 12 Recombinant DNA technology has been limited primarily to small organisms, usually bacteria. This production of new bacteria through altering genetic material has been confined to the laboratory; organisms with recombinant DNA have never been released into the general environment. 13 Broad claims are made about both the potential benefits and the potential hazards of genetically engineered organisms. Use of recombinant DNA may lead to welcome advances in such areas as food production and disease control. At the same time, however, the environmental consequences of dispersion of genetically engineered organisms are far from clear. According to a recent report by a House of Representatives subcommittee, The potential environmental risks associated with the deliberate release of genetically engineered organisms or the translocation of any new organism into an ecosystem are best described as 'low probability, high consequence risk'; that is, while there is only a small possibility that damage could occur, the damage that could occur is great. The Environmental Implications of Genetic Engineering, Report by Subcommittee on Investigations & Oversight to House Committee on Science & Technology, 98th Cong., 2d Sess. 9 (1984) (hereinafter cited as Genetic Engineering Report ), JA 167.