110 Nobel laureates tell Greenpeace they are wrong about GMOs

3 July 2016

Categories: Skepticism , Tags: Pseudoscience, GMO

Greenpeace are well known for their opposition to Genetically Modified crops. They take a principled stand against all GMOs.

GM technology has created some very useful potential crops, such as Golden Rice - a rice that has extra Vitamin A to prevent many cases blindness and death. This rice has been created for free to help third world countries. The World Health Organisation estimates that 250 million people suffer from vitamin A deficiency - that includes 40% of under 5s in developing countries.

The scientific viewpoint is that Genetic Engineering of crops is a much more targeted approach than techniques that have been used in the past - including cross breeding and chemical and radiation induced mutations.

Now 110 Nobel Laureates, over a third of all living Laureates, have signed a letter to Greenpeace urging them to reconsider their stance. The letter said:

"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,"

Greenpeace says:

"'Golden' rice has failed as a solution and isn't currently available for sale, even after more than 20 years of research."

Greenpeace neglect to mention what appears to be a major part of the reason it's not for sale is that they have been lobbying against its use for so many years.