Isssues

In his essay, “Playing God in the Garden,” Michael Pollan analyses the controversial issue of genetically modified foods, and alludes to a potato called the New Leaf Superior that produces its own insecticide. However, Gregory Stock discusses the also controversial issue of germinal choice technology (GCT) in his essay, “The Enhanced and the Unenhanced.” While Stocks essay points to the ways in which technology has helped humans in their development and also claims that the genetic choice technology in particular will be the great step for humanity; Pollan’s essay deals with the role of biotechnology to enhance agricultural products. Pollan discusses the unnaturalness of technology, as well as its effects on diversity and choice. Both Pollan and Stock essays bring about the ethical issues that genetic engineering has brought into society. Pollan agrees to the idea the subject of “Playing God” is the yearning for control to what is natural. However, Stock sees ethics as no problem but rather inevitable and beyond our control. While Michael Pollan shows a hint of skepticism towards the use of biotechnology to enhance agricultural products, Stock is vociferous about the ways in which technology has helped human progression and sees it as the ultimate tool of human evolution, which he thinks has stagnated at the present moment.

Enhancements made to the world through technology bring up ethical issues as to what is natural and unnatural. Pollan believes that technology takes away humans ability to choose. That is taking ethical issues and making them unethical. He mentions the agro business and how their way of manufacturing will lead us to point where humans will