The first commercial genetically modified crop entered the market in
1995. The controversy over this type of agricultural biotechnology is
even older. The critics are as vocal today as they were in the 1980s.
Although the science has advanced a great deal in 20-plus years, the critics have not changed their position that GM crops and food represent a threat to people and the environment.
I have been involved in public education on genetically modified crops and food for more than a decade. Experience has taught me two things: fear is very powerful and there is a great deal of pseudoscience on the Internet designed to generate fear of GM crops and food. Both fear and pseudo-science were significant factors in the recent resolution by Richmond council to ban the cultivation of GM crops.
GM crops are produced, in part, with recombinant DNA technology. Few in the public, including politicians, are trained in this field of science. The average person, including most politicians, cannot recognize the difference between the real science and the pseudo-science on GMOs. This lack of training and knowledge plays directly into the hands of organizations whose goal is to spread the fear of GMOs.
"Opponents of GM food understand that diminished understanding and lack of knowledge is the key to obstructing biotechnology," the American Medical Association has stated.
Although the science has advanced a great deal in 20-plus years, the critics have not changed their position that GM crops and food represent a threat to people and the environment.
I have been involved in public education on genetically modified crops and food for more than a decade. Experience has taught me two things: fear is very powerful and there is a great deal of pseudoscience on the Internet designed to generate fear of GM crops and food. Both fear and pseudo-science were significant factors in the recent resolution by Richmond council to ban the cultivation of GM crops.
GM crops are produced, in part, with recombinant DNA technology. Few in the public, including politicians, are trained in this field of science. The average person, including most politicians, cannot recognize the difference between the real science and the pseudo-science on GMOs. This lack of training and knowledge plays directly into the hands of organizations whose goal is to spread the fear of GMOs.
"Opponents of GM food understand that diminished understanding and lack of knowledge is the key to obstructing biotechnology," the American Medical Association has stated.
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