"When we wrote Ecofeminism we raised the issue of reductionist, mechanistic science and the attitude of mastery over and conquest of nature as an expression of capitalist patriarchy. Today the contest between an ecological and feminist world-view and a worldview shaped by capitalist patriarchy is more intense than ever. This contest is particularly intense in the area of food. GMOs embody the vision of capitalist patriarchy. They perpetuate the idea of ‘master molecules’and mechanistic reductionism long after the life sciences have gone beyond reductionism, and patents on life reflect the capitalist patriarchal illusion of creation. There is no science in viewing DNA as a ‘master molecule’ and genetic engineering as a game of Lego, in which genes are moved around without any impact on the organism or the environment. This is a new pseudo-science that has taken on the status of a religion. Science cannot justify patents on life and seed. Shuffling genes is not making life; living organisms make themselves. Patents on seed mean denying the contributions of millions of years of evolution and thousands of years of farmers’ breeding. One could say that a new religion, a new cosmology, a new creation myth is being put in place, where biotechnology corporations like Monsanto replace Creation as ‘creators’. GMO means ‘God move over’. Stewart Brand has actually said ‘We are as gods and we had better get used to it.’"
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Vandana Shiva in Ecofeminism Maria Mies and Vandana Shiva, 1993, 2014 Foreword (2014)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Genetic_engineering
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Genetic engineering
29 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Genetic engineering →
Related Quotes
"Hannah Devlin: In 2015, you called for a moratorium on the clinical use of gene editing. Where do you stand on using …"
"The genetic material for modification may be either derived from natural organisms using standard recombinant DNA tec…"
"Hannah Devlin: In your book you describe a nightmare you had involving Hitler wearing a pig mask, asking to learn mor…"
"Snake: I thought using genetically modified soldiers was prohibited by international law."
"Development of novel (i.e., not known to be naturally-occurring) GMOs exhibiting unique designer characteristics requ…"
"It is difficult to make a general judgement about genetic modification (GM), whether vegetable or animal, medical or …"
"When scientists began creating adenoviral vectors in the 1980s, most worked with a particular kind of adenovirus call…"
"Can genetic engineers restore a rapid worldwide rise in grainland productivity? This prospect is not promising simply…"
"Genetic engineering is to traditional crossbreeding what the nuclear bomb was to the sword."
"Transferring genes between utterly unrelated species takes us into the realms that belong to God, and to God alone."