The 21st Century will be the century of biology. Breakthroughs in rDNA technologies allow the precise manipulation of genetic material. This holds great promise for human and ecological well-being. Applying these molecular tools builds on the oldest and most widespread of human inventions -- traditional selective breeding. It is through this method that we created our domestic animals and crops, e.g., dogs, cows, rice, seedless grapes, tomatoes, and corn.

Advances in biotechnology deliver compelling benefits. For example, bioengineered human insulin has reduced the discomfort and inconvenience of diabetes. The Human Genome Project has increased our knowledge of the causes of many genetically based diseases. And drought- and disease-resistant crops have dramatically improved yields and reduced the need for fertilizers, pesticides, and cropland. (Last year, 8.5 million farmers in 21 countries grew biotech crops on 222 million acres, an 11 percent increase over the previous year.) Continued progress in this arena will be especially important as we adapt to a changing climate.

Despite this potential, the genetic manipulation of food crops engenders passionate opposition from radical Greens. Their angst is a mix of neo-Luddism, Marxism, and ascetic environmentalism. This is a profoundly conservative worldview.

It’s not an accident that opponents look to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein for inspiration in their attack campaign against genetically engineered foods, labeling them “Frankenfoods.” Frankenstein was published in 1818 during the Industrial Revolution, a time of dramatic scientific and social change. Shelley’s tale warns against technological hubris. Frankenstein’s monster sends a clear message: morally irresponsible scientific advances can destroy humanity.

These folks believe that civilization in general, and technology in particular, alienates us from nature and fosters environmental harm. This belief is rooted in Rousseau’s myth of the Noble Savage, i.e., that before the modern age humans lived in ecological harmony. The Unabomber’s manifesto and the writings of Al Gore are modern examples in this tradition. Below are quotes from each. Can you guess the authors?

“Among the abnormal conditions present in modern industrial society are excessive density of population, isolation of man from nature, excessive rapidity of social change and the breakdown of natural small-scale communities such as the extended family, the village or the tribe.” (Al Gore___ Unabomber___)

“Modern industrial civilization, as presently organized, is colliding violently with our planet’s ecological system. The ferocity of its assault on the Earth is breathtaking, and the horrific consequences are occurring so quickly as to defy our capacity to recognize them, comprehend their global implications, and organize an appropriate and timely response.” (Al Gore___ Unabomber___)

[The first is the Unabomber; the second is Gore.]

Only wealthy, comfortable people, whose survival and physical comfort are taken for granted, can afford the luxury of such delusions.

We know that until very recently human life was characterized by violence, pain, hunger, disease, and suffering. Today, the average citizen of an industrialized country lives a prosperous material life, with good nutrition, ample leisure, and recreation that were luxuries just a century ago.

Consider this incomplete list of the diseases from which technology and modern science have liberated us: polio, cholera, typhoid fever, viral hepatitis, salmonella, whooping cough, diphtheria, parasitic worms, intestinal parasites, malaria, chickenpox, smallpox, measles, mumps, influenza (25 million killed in 1918), plague (which killed a third of the population of Europe in the 14th century), and tuberculosis.

This progress is the result of centuries of open intellectual inquiry and accumulated knowledge. Our Western tradition of empirical inquiry demands theories of reality be amenable to observation, prediction, and falsification. This is a triumph of reason over superstition, allowing us to dismiss claims of all sorts of quackery, from fortune tellers to the existence of unicorns, ghosts, and UFOs.

Since Neolithic times, people have harnessed technology to improve agricultural crops. Genetic modification at the molecular level is the latest step in our desire and ability to improve human welfare.

There are no silver bullets. Every scientific advance risks unintended consequences. And technology can, of course, be used for ill. The real question, however, is do the benefits of technology outweigh those consequences?

I’m disturbed that antiscientific attitudes have infected large segments of the environmental movement. Rejecting the fruits of science is not the path to progress.