[Editor’s note: Robert Habeck is federal chairman of BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN. Kai Gehring is a member of the Bundestag and spokesman for research, science and universities.]
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Innovations in agriculture enable – despite all the setbacks – a world without hunger …. And while the application of conventional genetic engineering has created new problems in agriculture, its help has made advances in medicine and biotechnological applications.
The following principles apply to new genetic engineering processes: be open to research, but be careful when using them; the approval procedures must be strict, the precautionary principle must be observed and risk assessments must be carried out.
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Given the challenges ahead, there is nothing we should rashly reject. Rather, it is a matter of weighing up potentials and dangers and deciding democratically about deployment. But not guided by fear, but by facts, values and confidence.
[Editor’s note: This article was originally published in German and has been translated and edited for clarity.]