Letter Signed by 128 Nobel Laureates To
the Leaders of Greenpeace, the United Nations and Governments around the world:
“The United Nations Food & Agriculture Program has noted that global production of food, feed and fiber will need approximately to double by 2050 to meet the demands of a growing global population. Organizations opposed to modern plant breeding, with Greenpeace at their lead, have repeatedly denied these facts and opposed biotechnological innovations in agriculture. They have misrepresented their risks, benefits, and impacts, and supported the criminal destruction of approved field trials and research projects.
“The United Nations Food & Agriculture Program has noted that global production of food, feed and fiber will need approximately to double by 2050 to meet the demands of a growing global population. Organizations opposed to modern plant breeding, with Greenpeace at their lead, have repeatedly denied these facts and opposed biotechnological innovations in agriculture. They have misrepresented their risks, benefits, and impacts, and supported the criminal destruction of approved field trials and research projects.
“We urge
Greenpeace and its supporters to re-examine the experience of farmers and
consumers worldwide with crops and foods improved through biotechnology,
recognize the findings of authoritative scientific bodies and regulatory
agencies, and abandon their campaign against ‘GMOs’ in general and Golden Rice
in particular…..
“The World
Health Organization estimates that 250 million people suffer from vitamin A
deficiency (VAD), including 40 percent of the children under five in the
developing world. Based on UNICEF statistics, a total of one to two million
preventable deaths occur annually as a result of VAD, because it compromises
the immune system, putting babies and children at great risk. VAD itself is the
leading cause of childhood blindness globally affecting 250,000 - 500,000
children each year. Half die within 12 months of losing their eyesight.”
List of 128
Nobel Laureates Who Support Precision Agriculture (GMOs)
Consequences
of Banning GMOs
“Back in the 1980s, the ophthalmologist Alfred Sommer was in Indonesia,
trying to prevent a form of blindness that results from nutrient deficiencies.
When people got vitamin A, it stopped them from going blind as expected,
but Sommer was astonished to discover that they were also nine times
less likely to die. It wasn’t clear at that time, but now we know that there
are dozens of different bodily processes that require vitamin A.
“Without it, fetal organs like lungs don’t develop correctly, often
leading to infant death. Children without enough vitamin A in their systems
can’t fight off diseases, and common germs become fatal. Without vitamin A,
mucus membranes in the eyes, throat, and lungs dry up and turn to skin. ‘The
cornea will melt,’ Sommer said, bringing on blindness. And the purpose of the
mucus in our lungs is to tangle up invading germs and prevent infections. The
combination of a dysfunctional immune system and dry lungs is devastating. The
World Health Organization estimates that 250,000 to 500,000 children go blind
each year, and half of them die, because they aren’t getting enough vitamin A.
“'There has been an evidence-based obsession with solving vitamin A
deficiency because correcting it averts 23 percent of mortality in children
[between 6 months and 5 years old],’ said Shawn Baker, director of the
nutrition team at the Gates Foundation who has worked on this problem
throughout his career…..
“There’s just something about genetic engineering that stirs up passion.
When scientists were boosting the carotenes in corn through traditional
breeding, for instance, activists weren’t raising the alarm that it might be a
danger to the people eating it. In the American mind, a ‘GMO’ is a symbol for
profit-driven corporations, for big agribusiness, for endless uniform fields of
corn, and restrictive thickets of patents.
“But it’s essential to look beyond that symbolic acronym if we want to
weigh the good of individual genetically modified organisms. In this case, we
have public scientists developing a crop to serve the poor, a crop that fits
into diversified farm systems and would be controlled, bottom up, by farmers. When
an American child is afflicted with terminal illness, we demand treatment, even
if it’s not guaranteed to work. I haven’t been able to come up with a good
reason to think of Ugandan children any differently. This banana might do
a lot of good, but only if we give it the chance.”
A Farmer’s
View
“There’s one topic in agriculture that I think is exceptionally riddled
with myths, and that’s genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. We grow corn
and soybeans and have been doing so for over 150 years as a family. We see
firsthand the benefits of GMOs. Over 90 percent of farmers have been using this
technology for decades. Why do you suppose that is?
“No, it’s not because we are forced to. No, it’s not a conspiracy. No, we aren’t using more chemicals than ever before. These myths, repeatedly endlessly by critics of GMOs, are just not true. The reason why 90 percent of American farmers have embraced ag biotechnology is because it has substantially reduced our carbon footprint, while improving yields, farmer safety, and the environment at the same. It’s brilliant technology, really.”
https://gmoanswers.com/article-if-you-care-about-future-our-planet-heres-why-you-should-support-gmos
Young
Scientists & GMOs
Chris
Barbey, PhD student in plant molecular genetics and cell biology at the
University of Florida:
“There is a canyon widening between scientists and public perception – a
mistrust of science that has manifested prominently in disciplines like climate
change and vaccinations. And it’s happening
with genetic engineering. As a graduate student researching plant genetics, I
am constantly in the unpopular position of justifying genetic engineering to my
own generation.
“Today’s crops made with this technology are safe to eat, advantageous
for the environment, and more profitable to the farmer. The EPA, USDA FDA, WHO, the EU and other world agencies all support these claims. How
is it possible that these facts fail to match public perception? While the
public discussion is mired in non-scientific internet memes and conflated arguments
about multinational corporations, concerned people miss the compelling truths
of genetic engineering’s great achievements.”
--How Genetic Engineering Revolutionized
Insulin Production
--How Genetic Engineering Saved the Hawaiian
Papaya
--How Genetic Engineering Could Save
Florida’s Citrus Groves
In A
Nutshell
“Genetic modification is literally the essential feature of all life on
earth. Every GMO ever produced was derived using enzymes and techniques
discovered by researchers who found them in nature. Genetic engineers figured
out how to do what they do by studying the natural world, understanding it and
learning how to emulate it. Researchers have discovered that the movement of
genes between different lineages is commonplace and widespread. We see it in
organisms such as corn and sweet potatoes with which we are very familiar,
working in ways we never imagined. It is, in fact, a feature of our own, human,
genetic makeup. We are all ‘GMOs’ as is every organism on Earth.
“This has important implications. It means that every effort to
distinguish ‘GMOs’ from other organisms is factually incorrect. It also means
that government ‘safety’ regulations that focus on ‘GMOs’ as distinct from ‘non
GMOs’ are scientifically indefensible and based on a profound misunderstanding
of biology.”
3 GMO Critics Have a Change of Mind
“Stewart Brand is an icon of
the modern environmental movement. The creator of The Whole Earth Catalog he
says in his recent book, ‘I daresay the environmental movement has done more
harm with its opposition to genetic engineering than with any other thing we've
been wrong about... We've starved people, hindered science, hurt the natural
environment and denied our own practitioners a crucial tool’.
“Stephen Tindale was for six
years the head of Greenpeace UK. He has said ‘The reason I've decided to speak
out on GM now is because I think it is necessary for people like me who've
opposed it to say things have changed... The overwhelming majority of
scientists think that it is safe. It is, in my view, morally unacceptable to
stand out against these new technologies.’ Mr. Tindale singled out his own
former employer for criticism over its continued anti-GM stance. ‘I worry for
Greenpeace and the other green groups because they could, by taking such a hard
line... be seen to be putting ideology before the need for humanitarian action.’
“Patrick Moore ‘has been a
leader in the international environmental field for over 30 years. He is a
founding member of Greenpeace and served for nine years as President of
Greenpeace Canada and seven years as a Director of Greenpeace International. As
the leader of many campaigns Dr. Moore was a driving force shaping policy and
direction while Greenpeace became the world's largest environmental activist
organization.’ Over time he came to realize that the facts did not support many
of the opposition campaigns he had worked on through Greenpeace and he is now a
staunch supporter of Golden Rice and agricultural biotechnology.”
Additional Resources
There's Nothing Wrong With A 21st Century Farm https://www.forbes.com/sites/gmoanswers/2016/02/02/theres-nothing-wrong-with-21st-century-farm/#128c9010b275
More than 280 scientific and technical institutions support the safety of GM crops http://www.siquierotransgenicos.cl/2015/06/13/more-than-240-organizations-and-scientific-institutions-support-the-safety-of-gm-crops/
10 studies proving GMOs are harmful? Not if science matters https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2015/11/13/10-studies-proving-gmos-are-harmful-not-if-science-matters/
A decade of EU-funded GMO research http://ec.europa.eu/research/biosociety/pdf/a_decade_of_eu-funded_gmo_research.pdf
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Jerry De Luca is a Christian freelance writer who loves perusing dozens of interesting and informative publications. When he finds any useful info he summarizes it, taking the main points, and creates a (hopefully) helpful blog post.
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