Seventy-five percent of processed foods on supermarket shelves—from soda to soup, crackers to condiments—contain genetically engineered ingredients. The long-term effects of these foods on human health and ecology are still unknown, and public concern has been steadily intensifying.This new book from the Council for Responsible Genetics gathers the best, most thought-provoking essays by the leading scientists, science writers, and public health advocates. Collectively, they address such questions as:Are GM foods safe and healthy for us?Will GM food really solve world hunger?Who really controls the power structure of food production?Are GM foods ecologically safe and sustainable?Why is it so difficult to get GM foods labeled in the US?What kinds of regulations and policies should be instituted?How is seed biodiversity, of lack thereof, affecting developing countries?Should animals be genetically modified for food?How are other...

National DNA databanks were initially established to catalogue the identities of violent criminals and sex offenders. However, since the mid-1990s, forensic DNA databanks have in some cases expanded to include people merely arrested, regardless of whether they've been charged or convicted of a crime. The public is largely unaware of these changes and the advances that biotechnology and forensic DNA science have made possible. Yet many citizens are beginning to realize that the unfettered collection of DNA profiles might compromise our basic freedoms and rights.Two leading authors on medical ethics, science policy, and civil liberties take a hard look at how the United States has balanced the use of DNA technology, particularly the use of DNA databanks in criminal justice, with the privacy rights of its citizenry. Krimsky and Simoncelli analyze the constitutional, ethical, and sociopolitical implications of expanded DNA collection in the United States and compare these...