Expert: Richard Clark - 4/19/2001

Question
I'm not quite sure if you can help me with this question or not.  I'm trying to understand if genetically altering food crops to improve yield, flavor, or resistance to diseases is okay?  Can doing this alter the nutrients in these crops?  Is it possible to make these crops a detriment if eaten by human?

Answer
Gretchen;
You are all ready eating altered food. The milk with vitamin D added is altered. People don't want their food with chemicals in them, by genetically altering the plant they could be made to supply their own protection against bugs this would save on the sprays used. So I would think the answer would be yes it is okay to alter the plant. The change should be in different parts of the plant that the nutrients are supplied from. This is new so only time will tell if people will accept the change.
Richard