The ABCs of DNA

Robert Del Grande, president and executive chef, Cafe Express Food Group

Q. You may be the only chef in America with a Ph.D. in biochemistry. So what do you think about genetic engineering?

A.I don't see genetic engineering as being that different from TV or the cell phone. Like it or not, the technology is here. You can't take these things back. The question now is, How do we use it to make a better society? Its opponents are promoting fear with ignorance -- telling people these are "Frankenfoods," that there's a fish in their tomato. I think we need to understand it fully before we fear it. People hold DNA sacred. But I just see it as a group of chemicals. Nature recombines DNA all the time. Should we get rid of genetic engineering? No. But we should use it wisely.