Following A Moral Compass

One of the things I was taught as a youngster was “just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should”. It’s the basis for a moral compass. Most people have one, a small portion of people don’t - sadly, they’re the ones we always hear about. Last week the Associated Press ran a story about the future of genetically modified food animals and the tough road that group of biotechnology experts have to travel. At the same time the House Appropriation Committee was ardently questioning regulators on how and when the USDA will deregulate GM plant traits so that enhanced crop varieties that withstand pests, disease and drought can be made more readily available to our nation’s farmers. The country seems to be stuck encouraging the advancement of biotechnology one moment, and adamantly condemning it in the next instant. There is the fear that we will go off the deep end if, as a country, we allow the development of GM food animals - that it will not stop there and that we will be cloning humans next. Over the years there are many things that we could have done as a nation that we chose not to do because of a strong sense of moral ethics and standards. Just because we can do something, doesn’t mean we would.