Ch. 2— Introduction • 43 
luinclreds ot |)lants lo he ^rown asexiialK’ from 
a small sam|)le of plant material. Just as with 
tiaeteria, the cells can he itKlucecI lo lake u|) 
pieces of n\'A in a process called transforma- 
tion. rhey can also he e.xposed to mutation- 
causing agents so that they produce mutants 
with desired propei'ties. In another set of exper- 
iments, two different cells ha\e been fused to 
form a new, single-cell “Inhrid” that contains 
the genetic complements of both antecedents. 
In both cases, the success of tissue culture and 
The basic issues 
.Applied genetics is like no other lechnologx’. 
B\ itself, it may enable ti’emendous ad\ ances in 
conc|uering diseases, increasing food pi'oduc- 
tion, producing new and cheaper industrial sub- 
stances, cleaning up pollution, and understand- 
ing the fundamental processes of life. B('cause 
the technologN’ is so |K)\\ erful, and because it in- 
\ ol\ es the basic loots of life itself, it carries w ith 
it potential hazards, some of w hich might arise 
from basic research, others of w hich ma\' stem 
from its applications. 
As the impacts of genetic technologies are dis- 
cussed, two fundamental (]uestions must he 
kept in mind: 
How will applied genetics be used? 
Interest in the industrial use of biological 
processes stems from a merging of two paths: 
the re\ olution in scientific understanding of the 
nature of genetics: and the accelerated search 
for a sustainable society in which most indus- 
trial processes are based on the use of renew- 
able resources. The new genetic technologies 
will spur that search in three ways: they will 
pro\ ide a means of doing something biolog- 
ically— with renewable raw materials — that pre- 
\ iously required chemical processes using non- 
renewable resources; they will offer more ef- 
ficient, more economical, less polluting ways for 
producing both old and new products; and they 
will increase the yield of the plant and animal 
resources that are responsible for providing the 
world's supplies of food, fibers, and some fuels. 
cell fusion* can he used to direct efficient, fast 
genetic changes in plants. (See ch. 8.) 
(!ell culture lechni(|ues, while not sti'ictly g(v 
netic manipulation, form a majoi’ aspi'ct ot mod- 
ern biotechnology, ('omhined with genetic ap- 
proaches, their |)otential is only on th(^ \ (M'g(^ ot 
being realized. 
'.A related leehni(|ue is protoplast fusioo, or the fusion ol cells 
whose walls have been renun ed to leave only minuhrane-hoiind 
cells. The cells of hacteria. funf'i. and plants must all he freed of 
their walls Itefore they can he fused. 
ll'hat are the dangers? 
K\en before scicMitists recognized the jjoten- 
tial power of applied genetics, some c|uestioned 
its conseciuences; for w ith its benefits, ap[)eared 
hypothetical risks. .Although most exptfrts today 
agree that the immediate hazards of the basic 
research itself appear to he minimal, nobody 
can he certain about all the conseciuences of 
placing genetic characteristics in micro-orga- 
nisms, plants, and animals that ha\e nev er car- 
ried them before. There are at least three sepa- 
rate areas of concern: 
First, genetically engineered micro-organisms 
might have potentially deleterious effects on hu- 
man health, other living organisms, or the envi- 
ronment in general. Unlike toxic chemicals, or- 
ganisms may reproduce and spread of their 
own accord: if they are released into the envi- 
ronment, they may be impossible to control. 
Second, some observers c[uestion whether 
sufficient knowledge exists to allow' the extinc- 
tion of diverse species of “genetically inferior’’ 
plants and animals in favor of a few strains of 
"superior” ones. Evolution thus far has de- 
pended, in part, on genetic diversity; replacing 
in nature div erse inferior strains by genetically 
engineered superior strains may increase the 
susceptibility of living things to disease and en- 
vironmental insults. 
Finally, this new knowledge affects the un- 
derstanding of life itself. It is tied to the ultimate 
