Holistic Approach to The Environment and GMOs – The Case of Golden Rice

Abstract

This paper aims to point out the fundamental differences between supporters and opponents of genetic modification technology by using a brief analysis of the development and controversy that surrounds the genetically modified golden rice. Supporters present golden rice like a typical example of the benefits of genetic modification technology and, at the same time, accuse opponents of delaying commercial planting. Opponents from the very beginning point to the problem of golden rice as a partial quick fix of vitamin A deficiency, whereby the complexity of the problem of vitamin A deficiency in the diet of the population of underdeveloped countries is ignored. Today, 19 years after the presentation of golden rice in the media, this technology is still not ready for commercial use, not because of opposition by Greenpeace and other opponents, but because of the elementary fact that introducing genetically modified plants into a living environment is a challenge that science cannot yet adequately respond. In this paper on the golden rice example, we will point out the importance of the holistic approach to the environment taking in a count the complexity and unpredictability of introducing new biotechnological inventions into the environment