Genetically modified food conversation questions

Genetically modified food

 * What is genetic modified food?
 * Is there much (or any) debate in your country about GM food? What are the arguments for and against?
 * How would you react if you were given genetically modified food to eat?
 * People in the US have been eating genetically modified food for many years without ill effect. Why do you think some people in the rest of the world have doubts?
 * Plants can be genetically modified to make them resistant to drought or attack by insects. What objections, if any, should people have to this?
 * Plants are also genetically modified in order to make them resistant to weed-killers. This means that the farmer can apply all the weed-killer he wants without affecting his crops adversely.  Do you think this is a good thing or a bad thing?
 * Some companies are developing so-called "terminator" seeds. These seeds will produce healthy plants and crops,  but the seeds themselves will be infertile - so the farmer has to buy new seed each year from the seed company.  What do you think of this practice?
 * Some vaccines are going to be produced using techniques of genetic modification. What is your opinion of experiments of this nature?
 * Have you also heard of genetically modified animals or insects? What reasons could scientists have for genetically modifying them?
 * Does GM experimentation represent interference with the "balance of nature"? Under what other circumstances do we interfere with the balance of nature?
 * Is GM experimentation “unnatural”? Are all “unnatural” things bad?
 * Some GM traits can also be produced by conventional crop breeding. In such a case is the GM crop bad and the conventional one good?