Biotechnology has always held a special terror for environmentalists. They feared that someday genetically altered organisms would be released into the atmosphere as part of some experiment and then cause widespread ecological damage. As a result, the organisms that scientists can now produce have remained in laboratories.
That may soon change. This month the Environmental Protection Agency is expected to approve a limited experiment, to be conducted by California-based Advanced Genetic Sciences, in which genetically altered organisms will be allowed to enter the environment. The EPA believes that the fears about ecological damage are unfounded.
Scientists will take bacteria called Pseudomonas...
