What is the object lesson here? That our chief critic is a dog who has seen his day? That an enlightened electorate has somehow been won over? That despite constant efforts by some to create fear and spread doubt, the potential benefits of biotechnology in health care, agriculture and the environment are widely perceived by a clear-eyed public? Well, not quite.
What does come through is that a properly informed public is most likely to accept some risk. When it is explained that genetically engineered organisms can significantly increase farm production, a majority would be in favor of their use, even when there is a one-in-a-thousand chance of losing some lo cal species of plant or fish. But, the same is not true if the risk is unquantified.
Right now, figures indicate that the vast majority of the public would favor small-scale environmental application of genetically engineered organisms, but less ...
