Are genetically engineered products considered to be man-made or natural?

[Chap]

Take genetically engineered tomatoes for example. The genes are modified yes, but the plant grows similar to a natural tomato plant, obeying the same basic laws of nature (photosynthesis, transpiration, growth ect..). However, the product is not exactly natural. So, can the product be categorized under the man-made section or natural section? If you deduce that the answer is "both"; then there is another question:

What about other "man-made" materials in our world. Take the laptop for example. Yes, certainly man assembled the parts together, but the whole process had to obey the laws of nature. The parts had to be fitted according to natural laws; so that the whole thing would work. We call these things man-made because man used his intelligence to combine his labor with materials in "a state of nature" (such as iron ore or crude oil from which plastic is made) to make new products. Which is what is happening in genetically engineered tomatoes as well. Man combines his labor with a cell of a natural tomato and makes it into a product.

 

These are just my thoughts on the subject. I may be wrong; and if so; I'm glad to be corrected.

 

 

I appreciate everyone's thoughts on this subject. Thanks.

[CharonY]

The distinction of man-made and natural is arbitrary to some extent. E.g. are current crops and pets that have been bred by humans natural? For legal reasons genetically manipulated organisms are classified as such (i.e. GMOs). Tthe extent of manipulation are generally very minor, as we are not able to really create living organisms (yet).

[Halucigenia]

Take modern varieties of tomatoes for example. The genes are modified yes, but the plant grows similar to a wild tomato plant, obeying the same basic laws of nature (photosynthesis, transpiration, growth ect..). However, the product is not exactly natural. So, can the product be categorized under the man-made section or natural section?

 

In essence we have been genetically modifying crops and domesticated organisms since the beginnings of humankind. It's just that we have taken a slightly more direct approach recently.

[Mpratik]

Take genetically engineered tomatoes for example. The genes are modified yes, but the plant grows similar to a natural tomato plant, obeying the same basic laws of nature (photosynthesis, transpiration, growth ect..). However, the product is not exactly natural. So, can the product be categorized under the man-made section or natural section? If you deduce that the answer is "both"; then there is another question:

What about other "man-made" materials in our world. Take the laptop for example. Yes, certainly man assembled the parts together, but the whole process had to obey the laws of nature. The parts had to be fitted according to natural laws; so that the whole thing would work. We call these things man-made because man used his intelligence to combine his labor with materials in "a state of nature" (such as iron ore or crude oil from which plastic is made) to make new products. Which is what is happening in genetically engineered tomatoes as well. Man combines his labor with a cell of a natural tomato and makes it into a product.

 

These are just my thoughts on the subject. I may be wrong; and if so; I'm glad to be corrected.

 

 

I appreciate everyone's thoughts on this subject. Thanks.

 

As you say you will talk about the flavor saver (tomato) they are the natural products but we will grown them on our own conditions that's we can say them that they are natural but man made

Take genetically engineered tomatoes for example. The genes are modified yes, but the plant grows similar to a natural tomato plant, obeying the same basic laws of nature (photosynthesis, transpiration, growth ect..). However, the product is not exactly natural. So, can the product be categorized under the man-made section or natural section? If you deduce that the answer is "both"; then there is another question:

What about other "man-made" materials in our world. Take the laptop for example. Yes, certainly man assembled the parts together, but the whole process had to obey the laws of nature. The parts had to be fitted according to natural laws; so that the whole thing would work. We call these things man-made because man used his intelligence to combine his labor with materials in "a state of nature" (such as iron ore or crude oil from which plastic is made) to make new products. Which is what is happening in genetically engineered tomatoes as well. Man combines his labor with a cell of a natural tomato and makes it into a product.

 

These are just my thoughts on the subject. I may be wrong; and if so; I'm glad to be corrected.

 

 

I appreciate everyone's thoughts on this subject. Thanks.

[anotherfilthyape]

actually "artificial" or "man-made" is just a sub-group of what is natural... nothing can be both real and unnatural, so everything is natural, but what is artificial is a special kind of natural and what is man-made is a special kind of artificial... (Non-man made artificial things are bird nests, termite mounds, honey, beaver dams, scarab beetle dung balls, etc)

[Chap]

actually "artificial" or "man-made" is just a sub-group of what is natural... nothing can be both real and unnatural, so everything is natural, but what is artificial is a special kind of natural and what is man-made is a special kind of artificial... (Non-man made artificial things are bird nests, termite mounds, honey, beaver dams, scarab beetle dung balls, etc)

 

You seem to have brought another perspective to the argument. I should think about that one; the distinction between artificial and man-made.

[questionposter]

There isn't really as much of a "man-made" distinction in the industry as there is an "organic" distinction. Even though all carrots are organic because they all contain Carbon, some carrots are considered non-organic because they are grown specifically with altered genes and sprayed with pesticides.

[juanrga]

Take genetically engineered tomatoes for example. The genes are modified yes, but the plant grows similar to a natural tomato plant, obeying the same basic laws of nature (photosynthesis, transpiration, growth ect..). However, the product is not exactly natural. So, can the product be categorized under the man-made section or natural section? If you deduce that the answer is "both"; then there is another question:

What about other "man-made" materials in our world. Take the laptop for example. Yes, certainly man assembled the parts together, but the whole process had to obey the laws of nature. The parts had to be fitted according to natural laws; so that the whole thing would work. We call these things man-made because man used his intelligence to combine his labor with materials in "a state of nature" (such as iron ore or crude oil from which plastic is made) to make new products. Which is what is happening in genetically engineered tomatoes as well. Man combines his labor with a cell of a natural tomato and makes it into a product.

 

These are just my thoughts on the subject. I may be wrong; and if so; I'm glad to be corrected.

 

 

I appreciate everyone's thoughts on this subject. Thanks.

 

A thing that has always surprised me about this natural vs non-natural division is why some people insists on considering humans how something outside of nature. Once you acknowledge that nature include humans, as a kind of living beings, everything is made of the same particles.