Roger Beachy (of the Danforth Center) came to UC Davis this week to give a seminar. The grad students had the good fortune of meeting with him over lunch. He has some very interesting perspectives on genetic engineering that I haven't heard before.
One of his most striking points was that all this hype we hear of the public being against GMOs is largely generated by the media. The consumer public has been given very few opportunities to make decisions for themselves. He gave several examples of the public enthusiastically embracing GMOs.
- Most papayas now have engineered resistance to the papaya ringspot virus (due to disastrous epidemics in Hawaii). Non-engineered, infected papayas have cosmetic blemishes and spoil quickly. Consumers prefer the engineered, virus-free fruit despite labels that declare the inclusion of recombinant DNA technology
- The Flavr Savr tomato, engineered to decrease spoilage, apparently couldn't be stocked fast enough to supply the public during its brief existence (until Calgene went out of business and ceased production)
- A study in Pennsylvania found that consumers at a farmers market presented with three types of sweet corn (engineered for insect resistance, conventional and organic) preferred organic to conventional corn and GMO corn to both organic and conventional. The GMO crop was favored because it was produced without pesticides OR the insects/insect damage that usually occur in the absence of pesticides.
Incidentally, he said that Monsanto has given free use of its patents for any humanitarian corn projects in Africa. This is a big deal that Monsanto should get credit for. Imagine if all agricultural and pharmaceutical companies did this... (e.g. if pharmaceutical companies allowed distribution of generic HIV drugs).
Overall, he suggested that the public will quickly embrace genetic engineering over the next several years as they begin to finally see the advantages at the dinner table. As the social and technical barriers are removed, genetic engineering should allow scientists to produce some incredible benefits for humanity and the environment. I hope I can contribute!
4 comments:
OH NO, fungi produce toxins? Does that mean I cant eat the mushrooms at my grocery store?
Roger Beachy makes a very valid point here. People have not been given a chance to make their own decisons about genetically modified foods. The media, as Roger puts it, has been engaging in a lot of hype. They have been misleading the public about benefits of gmos. I think time has come for the public to come out and demand only accurate information about GMOs. By the way Roiger discusses the GMOs issue in this video(http://www.monsanto.com/biotech-gmo/asp/videogallery.asp?fr_story=ebce38bfa6be70411a0105510e66c45b766b8b81).
Consumer use of GM foods is linked in the US to the lack of labeling for any GMO.
Clearly labeling the foods as genetically engineered has been shown to decrease the consumption of it.
Well, that's not accurate as I mention one study that showed the opposite.
People are understandably wary of new foods and medicines. It took decades for Medieval Europeans to be convinced that tomatoes and potatoes weren't poisonous since they look like nightshades.
More recently, people weren't accepting of vaccines until they saw children spared death from small pox and polio.
It'd bad for society to allow the first impressions of the uninformed masses to override thoughtful, nuanced considerations of elected officials informed by experts.
We can't let irrational, uninformed fears dictate progress.
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