Actually, Jessica , I agree with you somewhat. I have family and friends
whose lives depend on genetically engineered drugs--a friend who is diabetic
and the insulin she receives is ge'd.  My father who had a heart attack and
was saved by a ge'd drug that quickly dissolved the clot and thus kept the
damage to minimum.  A stepmom who takes ge'd iron because she has end-stage
renal disease. Thus, I do understand your point of view because I am grateful
for the lives of these people.

I do have a problem with not being informed that these drugs are genetically
engineered.  Why can't you tell people?  If it's great, why not tell people.

Second, what seems to happen in our world is that something that is at first
used in an emmergency situation or only rarely, becomes in a manner of time
something that is used more and more for non-crisis situations.  For instance
in childbirth, while c-sections are life-saving.  Do we really believe that
the c-section rate should be 35%or greater (70%  in one Miami hospital)?  Or
does every woman who breastfeeds need a breast pump? Where once we used our
technology for the high risk, the emmergency situation, we start to
incorporate the technology into normal situations.  We do so at great risk to
the health and well-being of people.  There are always side-effects to
treatments.  In the cases of a health crisis, the side effects may be worth
the risk.  Are the risks of genetic engineering worth it for a minor health
problem?  We don't know.  We don't know very much about this relatively new
technology.  We in essence are the guinea pigs.

Dr. Mae-Wan Ho (Genetic Engineering Dream or Nightmare?)believes that
horizontal gene transfer is the greatest threat to public health.  She
relates the dramatic increase in virulent infections and antibiotic
resistance that has taken place since commercial-scale genetic engineering
biotechnology began.  The abuse and overuse of antibiotics cannot account
totally for the problem.  One of the common vectors is e.coli which causes me
to wonder about the new virulence of e.coli--mutation does not wholly explain
it. Genetic engineering also uses antibiotic markers increasing our chances
of building antibiotic resistance.

I do respect your point of view and respect your right to use these products.
 But I feel that the public has a right to know what is in their drugs they
use and in the foods they ingest--informed consent.  Valerie W. McClain, IBCLC

Genetically engineered enzymes:  ge'd:  chymosin-in cheese, novamyl-in baked
goods, alpha amylase-in white suagr, aspartic-in cheese, pullulanase-in high
fructose corn syrup.  Beers, wines and fruit juices may or may not have ge'd
enzymes

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