"In the end you will know more about butterflies than you can imagine, but that is just part of what you will have discovered. Although these magnificent creatures are enchanting, their existence, and, yes, even their ultimate fate, is merely a symptom of a much greater problem. Ladies and gentlemen, I implore you to help me with this problem. The problem lies with a new, dangerous kind of science. Biologically Enhanced Foods." He pronounced the words like a death sentence. "In this case, a strain of corn that produces its own insecticide. In an attempt to quickly make this new, bio-enhanced Frankencorn and rush it, untested, into the market, the defendants have completely overlooked their responsibility to this three-million-year-old species, and in a larger sense, to us, as well."

"Objection, Your Honor. He's arguing the case. This is supposed to be an opening statement," Joseph Amato said from his seat.

Judge King smiled. "Objection sustained, Mr. Amato." Then she swiveled in her chair. "Herman, maybe you should control yourself."

"Yes, I'm afraid I'm very passionate about this. I'm sorry, Your Honor." Herman was once again dismayed. She had called his opponent Mr. Amato, and him Herman, like he was just some sort of courtroom joke. Worse still, he had let the defense break up his opening statement with an objection. Shitty tactics, and he knew better.

Herman went on. "Dr. Masuka is going to explain to you how this biologically enhanced corn is producing a chemical that gets into the corn pollen that blows with the wind. This pollen from the transgenetic corn, or TG corn, then lands in the milkweed that surrounds most cornfields. Milkweed, it turns out, is a staple of the monarch butterfly's diet, so the butterflies are eating this pollen and are dying off by the millions.

"Dr. Masuka will tell you about GMO crops-Genetically Modified Organisms. Right now, GMOs make up over half the U.S. soybean crop and over one third of the U.S. corn crop. Thousands of crops in the U.S. today are trans-genetic crops, and that calls into question the safeguards that are being taken not only for butterflies, but also for human beings who ingest these same untested products. Are we safe, or will we follow the path of the tragically beautiful monarch butterfly?

"Over the course of this trial you will see that the defendants are blatantly disregarding these earth-sharing organisms. You will be asked to remember the cross-breeding of African honeybees, a well-intentioned experiment aimed at producing hives with more honey, but, instead, produced swarms of disastrous killer bees that have overtaken half the American continent. In their rush to try to improve upon

God's work, science all too often makes tragic mistakes. We don't seem to be able to learn this lesson. So, while commercial science plays genetic roulette, the rest of the life-forms on this planet suffer. Over the course of this trial you will discover that the defendants are failing to do an adequate job of testing these genetically enhanced crops prior to their worldwide distribution. How long will it be before other species suffer and die? How long before we find ourselves in the crosshairs of this new, careless science?

"Frightening, isn't it?" Herman paused for maximum effect. He had one eye on Judge King, watching her body language, hoping she wouldn't cut him off. She shifted, so he resumed immediately. "Because, like Agent Orange and Gulf War Disease, we have come to learn that the government agencies sworn to protect us are often more interested in protecting themselves-or the balance sheets of huge corporations and laboratories that contribute to politics and buy influence in Washington."

"Objection."

"Sustained."

"I'm done," Herman said. "Ladies and gentlemen, it is in your hands."

After a lot of shuffling, and whispering, and passing of notes between attorneys at the defense table, Joseph Amato got to his feet and moved front and center.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury," he began. "I'm Joseph Amato, and I represent the government. So, in essence, I represent you. I'm here to explain to you about the great care and diligence that must take place before any new food product, no matter how insignificant, can enter your lives. The monarch butterfly is dying off at alarming rates and we do not contest this fact. But my clients are also not responsible for it. Oh, yes, I suspect a few butterflies have died from eating milkweed with TG corn pollen on it. This is far from the disaster the plaintiff makes it out to be. We will show that many more butterflies are being killed off by insecticide spraying than by GMO food, but the plaintiff will ignore that fact. The plaintiff will give you no figures about butterfly deaths from insecticide spraying, because, of course, that wouldn't help his case. However, I am here to keep him honest, so you will hear from me about the devastation insecticides cause to monarch butterflies.

"You will also learn about the horrible downstream effect this frivolous lawsuit will have on starving Third World children who, if the plaintiff prevails, will die at an even more alarming rate than the monarch butterfly. Poor children who now directly benefit from these enhanced foods. What does the plaintiff hope to accomplish with his legal action? Well, I'll tell you. He is attempting to shut down this entire new and exciting field of genetic food research.

"We will show that tomatoes can be designed to contain enhanced vitamin A. Think of it. Super vegetables can be grown and fed to children in Africa, or in the Sudan where babies die by the thousands from vitamin A deficiency. We'll show how, in the future, because of this science it will be possible to make soybeans and vegetables with larger mass and added nutrients and grow more produce per acre-and that product will be vitamin-enriched and healthier. One day this science may well save the people of our overpopulated planet from starvation.

"You will learn that the impact of GMO foods on the monarch, is in fact very small, perhaps even infinitesimal, because this corn pollen that Mr. Strockmire is so concerned about is only produced for a very short time during the growing season-less than two weeks. It does not easily blow in the wind, and the monarchs' host plant, the milkweed, is vigorously controlled around cornfields.

"We will show you that most of the concerns about this new food technology are overblown and misunderstood; that this science is based on the laws of natural selection. We will show you how many plants over time have even developed their own natural resistance to pests. What is being done here, simply put, is to scientifically speed up this natural process of evolution. As the population of the planet grows exponentially and hunger becomes our major world problem, the labs and federal agencies Mr. Strockmire finds so dastardly are in fact attempting to beat the clock and feed the planet. However, you won't hear about any of this from the plaintiff.

"You will see that the men and women of science, who I will bring before you during this trial, are not monsters. They are not Frankensteins who are cooking up genetic nightmares. Instead, you will see that they are people not unlike yourselves who are concerned with die problems facing our society, concerned with world hunger. In fact, far from heartless monsters, you will see that they are the real heroes in this war against starvation.

"I beg you, don't listen to fanatics. Don't side with alarmists like Mr. Strockmire and his radical plaintiffs, but be messengers for the future. Be careful, and sure, and apply common sense to your judgment. The children of the world may live or starve by the outcome of your deliberations. Thank you."

Joseph Amato walked back and sat, elegant, assured, tugging at his French cuffs, diamond studs glittering.