a. A small company, Greener Fields, has recently developed
technology to develop corn plants that can be just as productive
with half as much water. This will allow increased productivity in
dry years and will reduce the demand for irrigation of corn.
However, the technology requires making a transgenic plant that
contains a drought tolerance gene from cactus. Greener Fields has
shown that this product will not affect human health or trigger
allergic reactions in humans or cows. Greener Fields is asking for
permission to sell seeds with this drought tolerance trait to
farmers in the US. There are clear environmental benefits for some
areas as the water used for irrigation will be reduced. However,
other groups have raised concerns that this drought tolerance could
allow farmers to plant corn in regions that were previously
considered too dry for effective production. The Environmental
Protection Agency has asked for public comments on whether this
technology should be approved and how it would be regulated. You
decide to submit a comment. Describe what position you would
advocate. Make sure to explain the logic behind your decision and
describe what potential concerns you have about the use, or failure
to use, of this technology.
.b. Geneticists have been able to identify genomic regions
and genes that are associated with higher performance on an IQ
test. A new company called Baby Einstein has started offering
a service to parents. They will use genome editing to alter
specific nucleotides during in vitro fertilization to ensure that
children have the high IQ test performance alleles of several key
genes. This will not guarantee high performance on an IQ test
but will likely raise the average score. The company has
shown that they can effectively perform the technique without
introducing other changes to the genome and that there are no
adverse health consequences. You are working for the FDA and
have been tasked with responding to a request from Baby Einstein as
they seek approval to sell this service within the US. Draft
a summary of your response that includes whether this should be
permissible, what regulations (if any) will need to be in place and
what monitoring of future outcomes might accompany the permission
to sell the service. Make sure to explain why you have taken
this position.