Re: Gene escape
We have now idea what their effect will be and that is dangerous for our planet.
How is this anything other than irrational fear of the unknown?
You could say the same about pretty much every technological advancement ever. Penicillin seemed to treat bacterial infections when it was discovered, but how did we know for sure that it wasn't going to make everyone infertile and destroy the species? You can always postulate some unforeseen catastrophic effect to anything new, and say "we don't know ...".
The rational response is to do some science, look for positive and negative effects, and make a judgement that is as informed as possible. There's always going to be the possibility that you'll later discover some negative effects (e.g. antibiotic-resistance and "superbugs", to continue the Penicillin theme), but to do otherwise is to give up all progress and be stuck in the stone age.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
