Wave of the future

Biotechnology, like information technology, is becoming a wave of the future. I have just gotten a listing of FACTS and FALLACIES about biotechnology, and let me pass these on to the readers, just to keep them informed of what biotechnology is all about. Here they are:

FALLACY #1: Altering the genetic make-up of the foods we eat is inherently dangerous. We do not know whether these foods might prove to be harmful years from now. And releasing genetically altered organisms to the environment will cause havoc.

FACT: Humans have been altering the genetic character of foods since the dawn of agriculture. Some 8,000 years ago, the Indians in Mexico selected and cultivated a mutated form of maize to develop the modern corn plant. This was not a transgenic operation, but it was an act of genetic preference that caused widespread cultivation of a plant with a different genetic composition.

FALLACY #2: The testing of new genetically altered crops is inadequate. Multinational corporations are exporting these crops to the less developed countries, which are less able to resist their power and influence.

FACT: All genetically altered organisms undergo stringent testing. Virtually all countries importing genetically modified organisms (GMO) crops are developing their own institutions for scientific review of these crops. The Biosafety Protocol establishes an international mechanism to enhance this scrutiny.

FALLACY #3: Developing countries are being used by the multinational corporations as biotech laboratories as biotech laboratories.

FACT: "The greatest 'biotech laboratory' is probably the United States, followed closely by Canada. Biotech crops have been sown, produced, and processed into a wide variety of products in North America for almost ten years. Over 300 million Americans and Canadians have been consuming biotech food products for years, without any known ill effects.

FALLACY #4: Allowing uninhibited genetic modification of crops and other forms of life harms biodiversity.

FACT: There is no scientific evidence supporting a natural, uncontrolled takeover of a genetic species by one that has been altered. The cultivation of altered crops will continue to be closely monitored. Cross-pollination, said to be the likely cause of an eventual reproductive takeover, has been shown in test after test to be an exaggerated factor.

FALLACY #5: Hunger is caused by poverty and landlessness, not by lack of food in the world.

FACT: Who can argue that a greater availability of more nutritional food at lower cost would have anything other than beneficial effects on the world's poor?

Would you like to share with me some beautiful prayers and poems that are so apt during this Lenten season? Here is one prayer, from St. Francis of Assissi:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

Where there is sadness, joy.

Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled

as to console,

To be understood as to understand,

To be loved as to love,

For it is in giving that we receive,

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

And here is a poem that can inspire and uplift the mind:

That man is a success

who has lived well,

laughed often and loved much;

who has gained the respect of intelligent men

and the love of children;

who has filled his niche

and accomplished his task;

who leaves the world better

than he found it,

whether by an improved poppy,

a perfect poem

or a rescued soul;

who never lacked appreciation

of earth's beauty

or failed to express it;

who looked for the best in others

and gave the best he had.

And here is one more quotable quote:

If a man is honest with others

and with himself,

If he receives gratefully and gives quietly,

If he is gentle enough to feel

and strong enough to show his feelings,

If he is slow to see the faults of others

but quick to discover their goodness,

If he is cheerful in difficult times

and modest in success,

If he does his best to be true to his beliefs,

Then he is truly an admirable man.

If there is one personage in Marikina City who has done so much to promote its cultural heritage, she is none other than the mother of my Ateneo schoolmate Ramon Chanyungco -- Mrs. Simeona Florencio Chanyungco. As a result of Mrs. Chanyungco's extensive research, Lerion-Lerion, a folkloric harvest dance, and Balse Marikina, a dance of veneration for St. Ellen, were developed and propagated in what was once Rizal's rural town called Marikina.

In recognition of the contribution of Mrs. Chanyungco to Marikina's cultural growth, the Marikina City government led by Mayor Bayani Fernando presented her with a Gawad Parangal during the well-attended "Gabi ng Parangal" held at the city's Bulwagang Bayani. And the evening was highlighted by diverse dances in different dynamics and forms, things that have always been very close to Marikina's resident performing artist.

Art A. Borjal's e-mail address: <[email protected]>