Redefining Reality - The Intellectual Implications of Modern Science

Aside from medical uses, we can alter animals to make them more
environmentally friendly. For example, we can use recombinant
the methane they produce, which is one of the leading causes of
global warming.
Genetic engineering technology has also been used with plants. We
now have plants that have been engineered to trap more carbon, the
idea being that these plants could make some small difference in
There are also plants whose
leaves change color when the
plant is exposed to explosive
chemicals, allowing the plants to
be used to detect land mines.
Many uses of genetic engineering
are commercial. Crops have
been genetically altered to
make them cheaper to grow.
Corn and soybeans have been
genetically altered to make them
immune to certain herbicides,
particular product, it will kill
only the weeds, not the crop.
With recombinant DNA technology, the genome is opening up as
a blank canvas. We can make adjustments that nature would never
make and create combinations that nature would never develop. But
our ability to make life forms of our own choosing prompts us to
ask: If life is the result of natural processes, and we can now use
of life itself changed?
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