Abstract:
Rapid development of biotechnological
engineering in agriculture in recent decades
resulted in marvellous achievements in the field
of crop breeding. Genetic engineering as the
youngest and the most prospective, as well as
contradictory, branch of modern biotechnology
allowed scientists to create new types of
agricultural plants, which are the products of
genetic modifications and belong to the class of
so-called genetically modified organisms
(hereafter referred to as GMO). These crops are
also known under the name of transgenic, which
depicts the essence of their creation: transferring
beneficial foreign genes from the genomes of
other organisms (not limited to plants, but also
retrieved from other kingdoms like bacteria) to
complement or replace natural genotype in order
to achieve certain economically desirable traits,
which are difficult or even impossible to achieve
through conventional plant breeding methods
(Rani & Usha, 2013).
Description:
The results of the survey provide strong
evidence in favour of the idea that religious
outlook does shape the attitude of agrarians
towards GMO science and practical
implementation. Most of the respondents are
Christians and atheists. While atheists and
Buddhists have mainly positive attitude towards
GMO implementation in crop production, other
religious groups are not so consistent and
positive in their relation to this biotechnology.
Christians are not only the most represented
group of respondents, but they are also mostly
quite cautious about GMO in production, having
generally not the highest negative attitude
towards scientific research work in this field.
Also, legislation plays some role in making
agrarians more cautious towards GMO crops
production.
