Sir Richard Roberts, Nobel laureate and Pamela Ronald, Ph.D.
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
When Monsanto first tried to introduce GMO seeds into Europe there was a backlash by the Green parties and their political allies, who feared that American agro-business was about to take over their food supply. Thus began a massive campaign not against the true target, Monsanto, but rather against the surrogate target, GMOs. This has had disastrous consequences for one of the most promising technologies ever developed for improving food supplies.
I will argue that by deliberately ignoring the science that underpins GMOs and painting horrific pictures of the dangers that might ensue, political motives are slowing the wide adoption of these technologies at the expense of the developing world.
I have organized a campaign of Nobel Laureates to try and influence the debate, which now has 155 co-signees. I will use Golden Rice as a clear example of the costs of these shortsighted policies. Millions of children have died or suffered developmental impairment because of a lack of Vitamin A in their diet. Golden Rice could reverse this, but has become a target of the Green parties because it is a GMO. This is foolish and dangerous. How many more children must die before this is considered a crime against humanity?