202 The Environmental Debate
chance of it triggering an environmental explo-
sion, if it does, the consequences could be sig-
nificant and irreversible.
Global life-sciences companies are expected
to introduce thousands of new genetically engi-
neered organisms into the environment in the
coming century, just as industrial companies
introduced thousands of petrochemical prod-
ucts into the environment over the course of the
past two centuries.
The reseeding of the planet with a labora-
tory-conceived second Genesis is likely to enjoy
some enviable short-term market successes, only
to ultimately fail at the hands of an unpredict-
able and noncompliant nature. While the genetic
technologies we’ve invented to recolonize the
biology of the planet are formidable, our utter
lack of knowledge of the intricate workings of
the biosphere we’re experimenting on poses an
even more formidable constraint. The introduc-
tion of new genetic-engineering tools and the
opening up of global commerce allow an emerg-
ing “life industry” to “reinvent” nature and
manage it on a worldwide scale. The new colo-
nization, however is without a compass. There is
no predictive ecology to help guide this journey
and likely never will be, as nature is far too alive,
complex, and variable to ever be predictably
modeled by scientists. We may, in the end, find
ourselves lost and cast adrift in this artificial new
world we’re creating for ourselves in the Biotech
Century.Source: Jeremy Rifkin, The Biotech Century: Harnessing
the Gene and Remaking the World(New York: Jeremy P.
Tarcher/Putnam, 1998), pp. 67, 72-74, 115.