ABSTRACT
The element of risk is undoubtedly one of the most important themes in the public debate over biotechnology and genetic engineering. The power inherent in the tools of genetic manipulation calls for especial levels of skill, care and foresight, so that the planned applications do not also result in serious unintended consequences. A number of the case studies have identified potential risks associated with the use of GMOs in agriculture and food production. It would be unfair to claim that these risks have been ignored. Ever since scientists were first able to alter the genetic composition of organisms in ways which could not have arisen naturally, there have been attempts to ensure that these new technological skills would not give rise to human or environmental hazards. This has continued to be an area of widespread concern, however. The point in debate is whether the response to the potential risks has been sufficient in this relatively new area of technology, where there are inevitably many unknowns, and especially where perceptions of risk differ greatly within society. There is a dichotomy between the opinions of laboratory scientists and ecologists as to the likelihood of these possible problems occurring in practice, but at this stage in the development of the technology there is little concrete evidence on which to base statistical predictions.
