Incorporating Science, Economics, and Sociology in Developing Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standards in International Trade Proceedings of a Conference (2000) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
10 Case Study 3: Genetically Modified Organisms
10 Case Study 3: Genetically Modified Organisms
Pages 231-246
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 231... ...
and altered agricultural practices (such as increased application of herbicides; Rissler and Mellon, 1996~. Although these ecological risks are widely thought to be on average minimal, the tremendous variety of plant attributes that are potentially modifiable renders blanket pronouncements of safety untenable.
|
From page 232... ...
In addition, direct field experiments indicate that, although most pollen moves only short distances from source plants, a measurable quantity of pollen travels vast distances, making containment of transgenic pollen highly unlikely (e.g., Kareiva et al., 1991; Kareiva et al., 1994; Lavigne et al., 1998~. Potential methods of containment include the use of barren zones around crops and plantings of trap plants into border rows.
|
From page 233... ...
However, field experiments with transgenic Arabadopsis showed that the transgenic plants, for some unknown reason, actually outcrossed at a rate of 6 percent, nearly 20 times more frequently than unmodified Arabadopsis (Bergelson et al., 1998~. The authors concluded (p.
|
From page 234... ...
A third type of extrapolation that is tenuous concerns the long-term effects of repeated plantings of genetically modified crops on soil ecosystems. For example, although Bt endotoxins have previously been sprayed on crops as a form of organic pest control, we have no experience with large quantities of Btladen crops decomposing in soils year after year.
|
From page 235... ...
Similarly, the potential risks associated with herbivore resistance genes can only be assessed accurately when trials are performed at multiple sites that offer potentially different environments for plant growth as well as different background densities of herbivores (Marvier and Kareiva, 1999~. A further weakness of short-term experiments is that there will likely be substantial time lags between the introduction of a transgenic plant and the emergence of ecological problems related to its introduction, such as escape of transgenes into wild relatives or the naturalization of transgenic crops.
|
From page 236... ...
85) Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Directive amending Directive 90/220/EEC on the deliberate release into the environment of genetically modified organisms.
|
From page 237... ...
1989. Field Testing Genetically Modified Organisms: Framework for Decisions.
|
From page 238... ...
Cost-benef~t analysis takes on ethical significance when rational Author's note: The following is a lightly edited transcript of my workshop presentation, which was an overview of my own research as it bears on the case of genetically modified foods. It was not intended to be a comprehensive or representative discussion of philosophical work on risk assessment or on biotechnology.
|
From page 239... ...
Furthermore, my project is a philosophical rather than an empirical one: I am attempting to make sense of the debate over genetically modified organisms in a manner that exposits and exemplifies a conception of rationality. I am not attempting to make empirical claims about human psychology or motivation.
|
From page 240... ...
As a matter of fact, I would argue that the discourse context the kind of speech that is being performed, the kind of claims that are being made, the purposes that are behind the making of claims, and the rules under which claims can be put forward and evaluated all influence the extent to which people regard information as reliable. Corresponding to highly reliable information we can postulate the ideal discourse situation, which is a long story.
|
From page 241... ...
So this is one dimension in which there is a tremendous difference between the public's position and the position of the scientific community, including the regulatory community. The difference is that, for the most part, the scientific community's information about risk comes from an ideal discourse situation.
|
From page 242... ...
So there is a sense in which, in this way of thinking about risk, things such as freak accidents and acts of God and as well a background of hazards that characterize all of our daily activities are not considered to be risks. Clearly accidents have some probability of harm associated with them, but they are not picked out by the cognitive filter that is associated with the word risk in an ordinary context.
|
From page 243... ...
Yet it is highly relevant to the cognitive filtering sense of risk. When we start out with the event-predicting sense of risks, we are already Involved in a process of deliberative optimizing.
|
From page 244... ...
Therefore, it is quite rational that it would tend to filter into a relatively high-risk category with respect to both the classifying and the information reliability. Many people who are concerned about genetically modified organisms see it as an easily eliminable source of risk; they do not understand that there would be important costs associated with foregoing genetically engineered food altogether.
|
From page 245... ...
1985. Risk Benefit Analysis in Decisions Concerning Public Safety and Health, Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.