Genetic Engineering_转创国际教育

Genetic Engineering
Many people are unaware that a lot of the foods they eat every day, such as bread, ham and cheese, have been altered by using new technology. Food can be changed. It can be made to taste different or to look different – carrots can be made to taste of chocolate and apples can be made redder. Some food that appears the same has been scientifically improved, for example, fish can be made to grow faster. Should we be pleased or worried? Will new technology bring benefits, or is it about to go out of control?
Genetically engineered foods are produced by taking genetic material from one species and transferring it to another. For example, an “antifreeze” gene which appears naturally in Arctic fish has been introduced into tomatoes and strawberries so that they don’t freeze in cold weather; a human gene has been introduced into pigs to make them grow more quickly.
Some claim great advantages. They point out that crops can be made stronger and more disease resistant, so pesticides can be reduced. They also maintain that food can be made more nutritious or that the fat content can be reduced to make it healthier.
However, critics insist that the risks are too high. They feel that these new processes should be controlled. They claim that this is not like the historical practice of breeding better animals or plants, but is a process that is unnatural with long-term dangers. They give the example of a soya bean that had been genetically engineered to have a higher protein content. This project had to be abandoned because the altered product caused severe allergic reactions in some people. Critics also think there may be long-term dangers and ask how many years must pass before we know the true consequences of these changes.
Since we know genes can move from one species of plant to another, could they also jump from plants to humans? For example, many of the genetically engineered foods being developed now have been given an antibiotic resistant gene. Could this be passed on to humans, making antibiotics useless as a medicine?
There are clearly benefits and dangers. The question is, will governments be able to control the process or will the multinational companies call the tune?

基因工程

许多人没有意识到，他们每天吃的许多食物，如面包、火腿和奶酪，已经被新技术改变了。食物是可以改变的。它可以做出不同的味道或不同的外观——胡萝卜可以做出巧克力的味道，苹果可以做出更红的颜色。有些看起来一样的食物经过了科学改良，例如，可以使鱼长得更快。我们应该高兴还是担心？新技术会带来好处，还是会失去控制？

基因工程食品是通过从一个物种中提取遗传物质并将其转移到另一个物种中来生产的。例如，一种天然存在于北极鱼类中的“防冻”基因已被引入西红柿和草莓中，使它们在寒冷的天气中不会结冰；为了使猪长得更快，一种人类基因被引入了猪体内。

一些人声称有很大的优势。他们指出，作物可以变得更强壮、更抗病，这样就可以减少农药的使用。他们还坚持认为，食物可以更有营养，或者可以减少脂肪含量，使其更健康。

然而，批评者坚持认为风险太高。他们觉得这些新过程应该受到控制。他们声称，这与培育更好的动物或植物的历史做法不同，而是一种不自然的过程，具有长期危险。他们举了一个例子，一种大豆经过基因工程改造，蛋白质含量更高。这个项目不得不放弃，因为改造后的产品在一些人身上引起了严重的过敏反应。批评人士还认为，可能存在长期的危险，并问道，要过多少年我们才能知道这些变化的真正后果。

既然我们知道基因可以从一种植物转移到另一种植物，那么它们是否也可以从植物转移到人类呢？例如，现在正在开发的许多转基因食品都含有抗抗生素基因。这是否会传染给人类，使抗生素成为无用的药物？

好处和危险显然并存。问题是，政府是否能够控制这一过程，还是由跨国公司来发号施令？