Scientists Warn Europe To End Its Luddite Anti-GMO Stance, Or Else…

[Valin]

The Feed:

Oct. 30 2014

 

If Europe is going to feed its many people, it’s going to need to rely on the best practices available to modern agriculture, and that notably includes genetically modified organisms. A pair of pro-GMO statements from scientific groups highlight the need for European policymakers to warm to the remarkable number of technological breakthroughs in GM research. First, as the Guardian reports, a group of high-profile scientists has penned a letter advocating in favor of GMOs:

 

 

The scientists warn that Europe may fall short of producing “world-class science” unless policymakers take a more pro-scientific stance and stop blocking GM research on “political” grounds. They say: “Plant science has arguably contributed more to the reduction of human suffering than biomedical research, yet compared with the latter it is hugely underfunded worldwide.”

 

At the heart of the new letter are three demands. First, that funding for fundamental and applied plant science should be maintained or, if possible, increased, to develop plants that are resilient to climate change. Second, that plant scientists must be able to perform field experiments: the authors claim that in most European countries experiments in the field with transgenic plants are blocked “not on scientific but on political grounds”. Third, that Europe must allow prompt authorisation of genetically modified plant varieties that have been found safe by competent authorities.

 

 

This letter, which included among its signatories 21 of the 30 most cited plant scientists, comes on the heels of a challenge from Britain’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBRC) issued to the EU’s anti-GMO policies. The Telegraph reports:

 

(Snip)

 

There are few better examples of the muddled thinking that pervades the contemporary green movement than its bizarre position against genetically modified crops. If the Chicken Little environmentalists are right, and the dystopian future of an overpopulated world with a more hostile climate is upon us, then wouldn’t it make sense to take advantage of agricultural technologies that could feed more with less, and under harsher conditions? For a group that so often looks to the scientific community for legitimacy, greens sure are quick to abandon science when it ceases to suit their own biases.