This is a study of the aims and applications of biotechnology. Providing a warning of the damaging implications for the natural world, the book argues that biotechnology is a conscious attempt to insert the value of effeciency into the biosphere's genetic code.

Proponents of the new biotechnologies claim how wonderful their benefits will be to agriculture and human health. But scientists and citizen groups are also increasingly concerned about the potential costs and adverse effects of these biotechnologies, especially genetic engineering.

This book, by a Filipino scientist and a major practitioner of sustainable agriculture, begins with a general critique of the new agriculture biotechnologies. it then examines in detail the environmental, social, political, and ethical impacts of the new biotechnologies. It concludes with proposals to control the biotechnology revolution and for sustainable agriculture alternatives that need not depend on genetic engineering.

This book is a timely contribution to one of the most critical controversies of our times, advocating for greater public awareness and adequate social control over a new technology that claims to be near-miraculous but may prove to be disastrous.