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PLANTS, ANIMALS & TRANSGENICS
A Tomato By Any Other Name
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Program Summary
Producer: Barrett Golding
Aired Beginning: November 1998
Imagine a grocery store in which every item on every shelf has been genetically altered to grow bigger, last longer, and taste better. If the new branch of American agribusiness has its way, that will be the future of your typical supermarket. Only, the "bigger, longer, better" parts are still an open question.
For years, humans have used soils and sex to manipulate the traits of plants and animals. Now, gene splicers are able to use traits, not just from related species, but from any species. The result is a new biological category: transgenics, organisms with genes from other species. Already, scientists have tried using flounder DNA to make tomatoes frost tolerant, found a chicken gene that helps potatoes resist disease, and grown tobacco with hamster and human DNA. The science is full of promise and new products. But is it safe? Is it ethical? Or even desirable? The companies investing millions in genetically engineered products promise better taste, larger farm yields, and more nutrition. Critics, though, charge that the evidence points in the opposite direction.
In this program we'll travel to both coasts, and to the heartland, to talk to those who work in, and those who worry about biotechnology. In Virginia, we go down on the pharm - the "ph" is for the pharmaceuticals grown in transgenic animals' milk. On a very different New Mexico farm, an organic grower raises concerns about genetically engineered crops released into the environment. We hear junior high kids describe the feel of kiwi DNA ("gooey," "slimy") they extracted in a 4-H biotech workshop. And we follow the "Endless Summer" experimental tomato through the laboratories of an Oakland company.
Most Americans have already eaten a genetically engineered product without knowing it. In Europe, however, the law requires labeling of all genetically engineered foods.
Is biotechnology an extension or an abomination of nature? Maybe, like most new technologies, it is a bit of both. It's something to think about, next time you're in the grocery store.
Last Updated: July 2004
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