Ground Floor Theatre
Black Gets His Science Wrong
RECEIVED Fri., Aug. 15, 2008
Dear Editor,
Mr. Black gets his science wrong regarding genetically engineered crops [“Page Two,” Aug. 8]. Plant hybridization involves crosses between two subvarieties of the same species, two closely related species within the same genus, and very rarely between two different genera in order to select for new varieties with desired traits. Genetic engineering puts DNA snippets from completely different kingdoms into plants, whether they come from fish, humans, or bacteria, typically using a virus as a carrier agent to get the new DNA past the natural cell defenses of the host plant. Whatever the potential merits of GE technology, it is by no means equivalent to hybridization.
Second, Mr. Black uncritically repeats the tired accusation of the biotech industry's public relations fronts that opposition to genetic engineering comes primarily from paternalistic U.S. activists claiming to know what is best for the Third World. In fact, the harshest criticism of genetic engineering comes from farmers and environmentalists in the global south.
In any case, Mr. Black may wish to question the assumption that GE crops will feed the starving world. Recent studies by the universities of Kansas and Nebraska show that GE crops of corn, soya, canola, and cotton yield less than their non-GE counterparts.
Mr. Black gets his science wrong regarding genetically engineered crops [“Page Two,” Aug. 8]. Plant hybridization involves crosses between two subvarieties of the same species, two closely related species within the same genus, and very rarely between two different genera in order to select for new varieties with desired traits. Genetic engineering puts DNA snippets from completely different kingdoms into plants, whether they come from fish, humans, or bacteria, typically using a virus as a carrier agent to get the new DNA past the natural cell defenses of the host plant. Whatever the potential merits of GE technology, it is by no means equivalent to hybridization.
Second, Mr. Black uncritically repeats the tired accusation of the biotech industry's public relations fronts that opposition to genetic engineering comes primarily from paternalistic U.S. activists claiming to know what is best for the Third World. In fact, the harshest criticism of genetic engineering comes from farmers and environmentalists in the global south.
In any case, Mr. Black may wish to question the assumption that GE crops will feed the starving world. Recent studies by the universities of Kansas and Nebraska show that GE crops of corn, soya, canola, and cotton yield less than their non-GE counterparts.
Sincerely,
Geoff Valdés
Geoff Valdés