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A simple introduction
The corresponding DNA string in the germ cell of the father (blue) :
(The syllables A and Z are just symbolical to mark the beginning and end of the
two corresponding DNA strings).
Through mating, the strings are combined to create the DNA of the body cells:
The combined DNA in the offspring (one green and one blue string):
This means that the sequential order of the genetic code of the mother string has
been disrupted by a sequence of codes that are completely out of place. This
may have several serious consequences.
4. The difference between mating and genetic engineering at a glance
Genetic engineering:
Conclusion
So technically, genetic engineering is an unnatural insertion of a foreign
sequence of genetic codes in the midst of the orderly sequence of genetic codes
of the recipient, developed through millions of years. In addition, powerful
artificial genetic constructs are added with potentially problematic effects. This is
a profound intervention with unpredictable consequences:
"Up to now, living organisms have evolved very slowly, and new forms have had
plenty of time to settle in. Now whole proteins will be transposed overnight into
wholly new associations, with consequences no one can foretell, either for the
host organism, or their neighbors.... going ahead in this direction may be not only
unwise, but dangerous. Potentially, it could breed new animal and plant
diseases, new sources of cancer, novel epidemics."
---------------
Dr. George Wald. Nobel Laureate in Medicine 1967. Higgins Professor of
Biology, Harvard University.
(From: 'The Case against Genetic Engineering' by George Wald, in The
Recombinant DNA Debate, Jackson and Stich, Eds. P. 127-128. ; Reprinted from
The Sciences, Sept./Oct. 1976 issue)