The Future of Food: Will Genetically Modified Organisms Solve the Hunger Problem?

The Challenge

With hunger dogging 842 million people worldwide, some scientists, agribusinesspeople, and policy makers are looking to genetic modifications as a way to produce hardier, more nutritious, more abundant crops. But potential, though unknown, long-term impacts on human health and the environment raise ethical issues for the development of GMOs.

What's At Stake

Ever since scientists discovered that they could splice the gene for such traits as the cold tolerance of a mackerel into the genetic code of crops such as tomatoes, controversy has raged over the advisability of such genetic manipulations. Responsible agribusiness has tended to focus on complying with U.S. regulatory structures and producing crops that are safe for individual consumers. In this regard, many argue that companies should be required to label genetically modified foods so that consumers can make informed choices. But beyond this issue, two other sets of ethical concerns remain: 1) Biological changes are replicable and could spread from modified crops to natural strains with unpredictable consequences. 2) Current genetic modifications are largely driven by business considerations, which do not necessarily address the nutritional needs of consumers, particularly the poor.

Critical Questions

• Are genetic modifications necessary to improve the quality and/or quantity of the food supply to meet the needs of a growing global population, or should we invest in other strategies and technologies including population control?

• Is there a significant moral difference between the age-old methods of crossbreeding and the new technologies of genetic manipulation?

• GMOs are a potential source of more nutritious foods, such as Vitamin-A rich rice. But such crops are not necessarily profitable for businesses to develop. Who should drive the development of GMOs as a solution to world nutritional needs?

• If agribusinesses develop genetically modified foods, who should be responsible for protecting neighboring pure or organic crops from wind- or insect-borne pollination from the GMOs? If herbicide resistance is introduced into a food crop, who is responsible for preventing its spread to wild relatives including weeds? How do we regulate a technology with global implications that is being developed and implemented at national or local levels?

• Once new genetic strains have been introduced, should they be allowed to reproduce? If not, what will be the impact of such "terminator technology," which can make GMOs sterile, on farmers, who cannot then hold seeds over for planting the next year?

November 18, 2003

Back to Ethics Outlook Agenda