Dr.Who
Well-Known Member
I was reading this:
http://www.king5.com/news/environme...-up-in-Oregon-of-great-concern-157798505.html
An article about how a dock that was displaced in the Japanese Tsunami washed up on a beach in Oregon and how the parks service is treating it as a grave threat to the ecology. Species native to Japan could take hold in Oregon and that could wreak havoc. These are of course species that are living in Japan and are an integral part of the eco-system over there. But here they do not belong and who knows what the results might be.
I agree that there have been numerous examples of transplanted species wreaking havoc in new environments.
Now that got me thinking...when a company like Monsanto creates a new organism out of the blue through genetic engineeing aren't they introducing a new species not just to some part of the world where it has not lived before but to the world as a whole? The Earth is being "invaded" by non-native species.
Why is it critically important to stop crabs moving from Japan to Oregon but it does not matter if a previously completely unknown species moves into the Earth?
http://www.king5.com/news/environme...-up-in-Oregon-of-great-concern-157798505.html
An article about how a dock that was displaced in the Japanese Tsunami washed up on a beach in Oregon and how the parks service is treating it as a grave threat to the ecology. Species native to Japan could take hold in Oregon and that could wreak havoc. These are of course species that are living in Japan and are an integral part of the eco-system over there. But here they do not belong and who knows what the results might be.
I agree that there have been numerous examples of transplanted species wreaking havoc in new environments.
Now that got me thinking...when a company like Monsanto creates a new organism out of the blue through genetic engineeing aren't they introducing a new species not just to some part of the world where it has not lived before but to the world as a whole? The Earth is being "invaded" by non-native species.
Why is it critically important to stop crabs moving from Japan to Oregon but it does not matter if a previously completely unknown species moves into the Earth?