Science Class Role Play

Today in Living Environment class in which I was asked to become an expert on GM foods (see prior post) from the view of a scientist. Basically I was to do so by answering these questions, and then further researching the topic.

1.) What are the benefits of genetically engineered foods?

2.) What are the risks of genetically engineered foods?

3.) Do the benefits outweigh the risks and why?

THE answers from a scientist point of view..

1) Benefits are, Pharmaceuticals, Nutrition, drought tolerance/salinity tolerance, Cold tolerance. Herbicide tolerance, and Pest resistance.

2) Risks are Unintended harm to other organisms, Reduced effectiveness of pesticides, Gene transfer to non-target species, Allergens, and economic concerns

3) To me ( as a mock scientist) the benefits outweigh the risks only in the event that the GM foods pass a safety test so that the risks become minimal. However without the test I feel GM foods could have harmful effects on the environment and the economy.

For further research links on topic or to see how roles teach about GM foods please see

http://home.earthlink.net/~spcemonk/webquest.html

and

http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/gmfood/overview.php

Role play as scientist? Can I be..

     Einstein!