Western Standard

The Shotgun Blog

« Newfoundland's newest fight | Main | Press Review »

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

European "science" at work

If this is any indication of the state of European science I think I'll reconsider any idea of sending my kids to university there:

EUROPE must ditch GM crops and invest in sustainable agriculture now if it wants to provide enough food for future generations, scientists have warned.

Scientific evidence has turned decisively against genetically-modified crops and in favour of non-GM sustainable agriculture, according to a new publication, The Independent Science Panel Report, The Case for a GM Free Sustainable World.

Interesting. With the many varieties of GM crops available one wonders how they could make such a sweeping statement covering all of them. And what startling new discoveries on crop yields or other environmental impact assessments have they done? Well, I can't do better than simply quote the report verbatim:
Dr Mae-Wan Ho, director of the Institute of Science in Society said the biotech industry is showing all the signs of collapse because, she said, it has "got the science wrong".

"When genetic engineering started in the mid-1970s, scientists thought the genome was static and genes determined the characteristics of organisms in linear causal chains.

"It turns out that the genome is constantly in conversation with the environment and changing both the expression and structure of genes.

"It is this 'fluid genome' that unsettles genetic modification and creates the dangers of uncontrollable gene transfer and recombination.

"GM is a scientific and financial dead-end and we should draw the curtain over it."

Well, how does one even enter the debate when the director of the Institute of Science in Society makes a case like that?

Posted by Kevin Jaeger on October 26, 2004 in Science | Permalink

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
https://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d834515b5d69e200d834589a6569e2

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference European "science" at work:

» European "science" at work from BZB
European "science... [Read More]

Tracked on 2005-05-18 9:01:05 AM

Comments

I think someone dug up Trofim Lysenko. Looks like the Left-whingers will only eat politically correct crops. IGMC.

Posted by: DWMF | 2004-10-27 10:53:26 AM

Oh my gosh, I thought that this line of thinking was dead, along with eugenics.
Please tell me that they have replicated studies proving this.

Posted by: Geoff Matthews | 2004-10-27 4:34:41 PM


The comments to this entry are closed.