ABSTRACT
International scientific organizations and professional groups have grappled with the correct assumptions about risk on which to base regulation of the new biotechnology. New biotechnology, says the scientific consensus, lowers even further the already minimal risk associated with introducing new plant varieties into the food supply. The use of the latest biotechnology techniques makes the final product even safer, for it is possible to introduce pieces of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) that contain one or a few well-characterized genes in contrast to older genetic techniques that transfer or modify a variable number of genes haphazardly. The uses of the new biotechnology in “contained” laboratories, pilot plants, greenhouses and production facilities have engendered relatively little controversy. The National Institutes of Health Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant DNA Research exempt from oversight more than 99% of laboratory experiments, and this has allowed organisms of low risk to be handled under modest containment conditions.
