5.3. Misery Of Modern Meat Birds Genetically manipulating a bird, that would normally weigh little more than a pound at six weeks old
into a bird weighing four and a half or five pounds at this age (growing at a rate of three and a half times faster
than normal), has created major metabolic and skeletal disorders in meat-type chickens. Their mortality rate is
seven times that of laying hens of the same age, and two percent of these birds die of heart failure in their
infancy. At least a quarter of all broiler chickens are lame, and studies show that they are in pain. When given a
choice between food with painkillers and regular food, the birds quickly identify the food with the painkillers
and eat only that [19]. Given the multitude of problems caused by forced rapid growth using 20th-century selective breeding
methods, the poultry industry is considering cloning and other genetic modification procedures to multiply
chickens for the world market in years to come [20].
5.4. A Consensus Biotechnology should not be wiped completely; instead, there should be regulations and careful
screening of things done with biotechnology.
5.5 Biotechnology Regulations The National Institute of Health was the first federal agency to assume regulatory responsibility in the
United States. The Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee of the NIH published guidelines for working with
recombinant DNA and recombinant organisms in the laboratory. Nowadays, the agencies that are responsible
for the biotechnology regulation are: USDA that regulates plant pests and medical preparation from living
organisms, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that regulates pesticides and herbicides, and the Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) which ensures that the food and drug products are safe and effective.
However, European Food Safety Authority‟s (EFSA) Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) Panel
has established a working group to draft guidance for the food and feed safety assessment of products derived
from GM animals. Also, to effectively assess environmental safety, taking into account the diversity of animal
habitats, the GMO Panel is setting up three dedicated working groups. These groups will draft specific guidance
for GM fish, GM insects, and GM mammals and birds. In order to gather the necessary background information
for this environmental risk assessment, EFSA has launched and awarded three separate calls for tenders, with
the aim of identifying information available in the public domain and defining the risk assessment criteria for
GM fish, GM insects and GM birds and mammals.
Finally, there should be a rule that genetically modified foods should be labelled. This is to make eating
it a thing of choice i.e. whether or whether not to eat such foods based on ones beliefs and practices.