Risky Business: Rethinking the Social and Ecological Impact of Biotechnology‪.‬

Abstract The social impact of the Human Genome Project and the ecological impact of genetically modified organisms are assessed based on an integrated model of the environment that recognizes the way that all life is interconnected and interdependent as well as our need to reduce social inequity and ecological unsustainability. The claims that these technologies will contribute to solving world hunger and ending disease are questioned and their tendency to support and exacerbate existing social inequity and ecological unsustainability is highlighted. A more fully integrated assessment that recognizes the relationship between both the projects and their social and ecological impacts is suggested.