In letter to the editor, Lancet is criticized by a representative of the Biotechnology Industry Organization for placing politics and tabloid sensationalism above its responsibility to report and assess new science.
Howard, Joseph H. (author / Director, National Agricultural Library, USDA)
Format:
summary report
Publication Date:
1987-02
Published:
USA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 69 Document Number: D10771
Notes:
See this report in Document C02958. Claude W. Gifford Collection. Beyond his materials in the ACDC collection, the Claude W. Gifford Papers, 1919-2004, are deposited in the University of Illinois Archives. Serial Number 8/3/81. Locate finding aid at https://archives.library.illinois.edu/archon/, Page46 in Biotechnology: the challenge - proceedings of the USDA Biotechnology Challenge Forum, Washington, D.C., February 5-6, 1987. 56 pages.
5 pages., Author concludes that "genetic information is easy to portray as a new and scary technology, but fearmongering is largely based on misinformation, a misunderstanding of evolution and our place in the natural world, and vague fears of contamination. In reality, GMO safety testing is extensive and has not uncovered any safety concerns for current GMOs. There are other issues with GMOs that are worth discussing, but fears of adverse health effects are not legitimate." Cites a review of research ty the European Commission in 2010: "The main conclusion to be drawn from the efforts of more than 130 research projects, covering a period of more than 25 years of research and involving more than 500 independent research groups, is that biotechnology, and in particular GMOs, are not per se more risky than e.g. conventional plant breeding technologies."
