What are some reasons that the use of biotechnology is controversial?

Answer 1

The use of biotechnology became controversial for a number of reasons, and is especially prevalent concerning GMOs in crops and foods, and to some extent medicines. There are several reasons for the conversary.

One is people are not convinced that GMOs have been adequately tested, though others point out that hundreds of scientific studies have been done that show they are safe. While it is true that studies have been done, people don't always trust the studies because a large number of them have been done by or funded by the companies who create the crops.

Some people question the length of the studies. Those people believe the length of many studies being 90 days is not long enough to show whether GMOs are safe or unsafe. They also point out that many of the studies were done for production, and not safety.

People also disagree about the FDA approval process itself. While some believe it is adequate, others believe that declaring "substantial equivalence" of GM foods to non-GMO foods, and having voluntary consultations between the FDA and GMO developer is not enough to assure the safety of GMO varieties. In fact, some believe that it leaves new GMO foods without effective regulation totally.

Another reason there is controversy is that previous employees of Monsanto and possibly other biotech companies have held positions in the FDA when important decisions about the approval of GM crops and foods have been made. In some cases, those employees have gone back to Monsanto. That has created suspicion of improprieties in the minds of many consumers, as has biotech companies making sizable contributions to political candidates and office holders.

Conerning foods, labeling is the major issue. While the majority of consumers believe GMO ingredients should be labeled, biotech and food manufacturing companies have spent millions of dollars to defeat state labeling laws. While the FDA could require labeling of GMO foods at the federal level, they haven't, adding more suspicion in some people's minds of the entire biotech issue.

Controversary also stems from concerns of possible environmental and health issues that might arise (or are being shown to have arisen), possible unintended changes (collateral damage) done by the technology itself, use of horizontal breeding as opposed to vertical breeding that occurs in nature, and other issues.