Thesis statement: An international biosafety protocol should be
created to establish and maintain control over the products designed
I. The existing laws and regulations that govern the release of
transgenic organisms are inadequate or nonexistent.
A. The developed nations of the world are using regulations that were
designed to control and monitor crops created with traditional
B. Biotechnology is regulated by three different agencies.
C. The undeveloped nations have virtually no regulations governing
1. This indicates that biotechnological research can and is being
conducted in these countries without regulation.
2. There are many biotech companies based in developed countries that
have branches or joint ventures around the world.
II. The potential risks of transgenic organisms to the environment is
A. Some experts warn that there is a danger that biotechnology can
B. Biotechnology has the potential to harm the economies of some
C. The last and possible the most important argument for an
international biosafety protocol is in the name of ignorance and caution
III. The United States, Germany, Japan, and Australia are the only
countries opposed to the biosafety protocol.
IV. The need for a change in the world of agriculture is undeniable.
As the world moves closer to the 21st century, research and development
in the area of biotechnology has increased dramatically. According to
Bette Hileman of Chemical and Engineering News, the world population
will increase by 3 billion people in the next thirty years while the
amount of land available for agriculture cannot be greatly expanded.
"Biotechnology - specifically that aspect involved in transferring
genes from one species into the [DNA] of another - has the potential to
alleviate . . ." (8) this and many other problems facing the world in
the near future. Even though biotechnology has already shown dramatic
r...