Drew L. Kershen
University of Oklahoma College of Law
The General Synod Board for Social Responsibility of the Church of England (1999) issued a report entitled Genetically Modified Organisms: A Briefing Paper. In this report, that is cautiously favorable towards biotechnology,1 the Synod Board states that enormous concern exists at the prospect of genetically modifying organisms arising from a Asense that genetically modified foods are radically unnatural.2 In this paper, I will explore this concern that the genetic modification of organisms is unnatural as a reflection of competing concepts about the natural world. As I undertake this exploration, I acknowledge that the concept of the natural is immensely complex and that my comments barely grapple with the complexities. Despite these limitations, the concept of the natural—discerning the boundary between the natural and the unnatural—appears to be central to the debate about biotechnology.3 Read more…