Indeed, molecular work in agricultural biotechnology has contributed significant knowl-
edge to the database of food allergens.
15.6.3 Environmental Concerns
Biological systems are fluid and dynamic. Farmers have known for decades that when they
overuse a particular agricultural tool, they create an evolutionary selection pressure, which,
in many cases will lead to resistance, rendering the tool ineffective. The tools of genetic
engineering are no different. Weeds in an agricultural setting can significantly reduce
yields. Farmers have a number of options for controlling weeds in a cost-effective
manner, including the use of approved and registered herbicides, crop rotations, and
most recently, genetic engineering. In particular, several soybean and canola varieties are
now available that contain genes, found naturally in bacteria, that confer herbicide toler-
ance, and that may allow producers to grow a bountiful crop with fewer chemicals.
One concern with herbicide-tolerant crops is that the gene responsible for such tolerance
could move or transfer to neighboring weeds, thereby allowing such a weed to flourish as it
becomes resistant to a particular herbicide (in which case the weed could still be controlled
using other management practices such as tillage or alternative herbicides). The develop-
ment of resistance is a common phenomenon in agriculture, and the transfer of genes
from one plant to another is also known to occur, through either pollen or viruses that
can naturally infect one plant and then move on to another. The same concern about resist-
ance applies to insect-resistant crops, such as Bt corn. That is why corn producers who grow
genetically engineered Bt corn are, for example, required to devote 20% of their acreage to
non-Bt varieties.
15.6.4 Consumer Choice
Consumer choiceis a fundamental value for shoppers, irrespective of science. Foods in
Canada and the United States are labeled on the basis of health and nutritional data, but
there are a variety of other voluntary labeling systems based on religious preference
(e.g., kosher and halal meats), growing preferences (e.g., organic), or nutritional preferences
(e.g., low-fat and low-salt). A market for biotechnology-free foods, labeled as such, might
also emerge to meet consumer demand. However, many consumers will continue to base
their food selections on taste, price, and nutritional content before other considerations.
Labeling guidelines must accommodate all of these values.
15.7 Business and Control
Perhaps of greater public and even scientific concern is that the scientific and technological
competence related to agricultural biotechnology has become concentrated within the
private sector, particularly within multinational corporations such as Monsanto,
Syngenta, DuPont, and Bayer. Such a concentration of expertise will advance the research
priorities of industrialized countries while sacrificing the public good.
This is a debate that predates transgenic plants, since food production in general has a
long history of corporate involvement. On June 29, 1912, following extensive newspaper
advertisements, a prospectus for a new company, The Synthetic Products Company Ltd.,
was launched in Britain. A global rubber shortage from 1907 to 1910 had prompted
15.7. BUSINESS AND CONTROL 353