image © V. Gilbert and Arlisle F. Beers

"God made mankind straight,
but men have recourse
to many calculations."
(Eccl 7:29)

God gave man dominion of the creatures of the earth for the good of mankind not just for the benefit of the rich. Genetic Modification companies are helping mankind to develop new types of plants and animals and increase food production. At the same time they are in business for profit. They deserve to be recompensed for their efforts but what comes into question are their practices which tend to be monopolistic and at times motivated by greed.

Living organisms were the heritage of mankind till some nations decided that bioengineering efforts could be patented. So, for example, Monsanto holds the patent for genetically developing soybeans resistant to the herbicide which kills weeds. Since they owned the gene, they induced farmers to sign an agreement that they would not save their own seeds but purchase them each year from Monsanto. In actual practice many small farmers in the poor nations could not effort to buy seed each year and began to save their seeds. A case in point is Argentina which has become the second largest user of Monsanto soybeans. Since many farmers were saving their seeds and some even never paid Monsanto once because they purchased their seeds on the underground market came up with a scheme to make them pay. In 1994, They proposed that exporters should pay royalties to Monsanto. Argentina's agriculture secretary indicated Monsanto's proposals for such a framework are far from satisfactory. "We are within our legal and moral rights to not accept the royalties payment scheme because we feel that these companies have already received a lot from our country and they should consider themselves well paid." Property rights are not absolute because God created the goods of the earth for all mankind so that the common good comes first. "In general, it is accepted that farmers can keep enough seed for their use, but not to sell to others, and this was included in the 1999 European Commission Directive on Patenting of Biotechnology inventions." (Webpage: Biotechnology, Patents, and Bioethics by Darryl R.J. Macer and Makina Kato)

Since many farmers are saving their seeds, Monsanto has developed a "Terminator Gene" which would render seeds infertile. This is against the nature of things with a potential of spreading to the non GMO crops making them infertile. Monsanto after much controversy and world opposition decided in 1999 to abandon the "Terminator Gene" marketing. "The company finally realized that Terminator will never win public acceptance. Terminator has become synonymous with corporate greed, and it was met with intense opposition all over the world."

To Monsanto copyright means that the company owns the genes regardless of how the gene got into a related crop. Pollen carried by insect or the wind can pollinate a non GMO crop in adjacent fields and at one time Monsanto began to demand royalties from these farmers. It is evident that the farmer is not responsible for what insects and wind do and it is unjust for Monsanto to demand royalty from such a crop, but this has not stopped Monsanto from bringing lawsuits against some of these farmers.

Food companies are resisting the public demand that GMO products . They must be labeled because some of these products cause allergic reactions. Let's say a person is allergic to peanuts and a gene from the peanut is used in beans. The eating of the beans may cause an allergic reaction. Also ... the technology may be introducing new allergens that have never been in the food supply before because some of the genes that are being used come from soil microorganisms that have never been ingested before." (Jane Rissler) These food companies are resisting from fear that those opposed to GMO products would not purchase their products and law suits would be brought against them from people experiencing ill effects from these foods.

So, when is bioengineering lawful?

Since this human action has two effects, one good and and another bad, it is lawful to alter genetically plants and animals when the good produced is greater than the bad effects.

9. Sustainable Agriculture