Time to call out the anti GMO conspiracy theory Mark Lynas. Mark Lynas speech hosted by the International Programs College of Agriculture and Life Sciences 5. Anniversary Celebration, and the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, Cornell University. April 2. 01. 3, 2. ETI think the controversy over GMOs represents one of the greatest science communications failures of the past half century. Millions, possibly billions, of people have come to believe what is essentially a conspiracy theory, generating fear and misunderstanding about a whole class of technologies on an unprecedentedly global scale. This matters enormously because these technologies in particular the various uses of molecular biology to enhance plant breeding potential are clearly some of our most important tools for addressing food security and future environmental change. I am a historian, and history surely offers us, from witch trials to eugenics, numerous examples of how when public misunderstanding and superstition becomes widespread on an issue, irrational policymaking is the inevitable consequence, and great damage is done to peoples lives as a result. This is what has happened with the GMOs food scare in Europe, Africa and many other parts of the world. Allowing anti GMO activists to dictate policymaking on biotechnology is like putting homeopaths in charge of the health service, or asking anti vaccine campaigners to take the lead in eradicating polio. I believe the time has now come for everyone with a commitment to the primacy of the scientific method and evidence based policy making to decisively reject the anti GMO conspiracy theory and to work together to begin to undo the damage that it has caused over the last decade and a half. On a personal note, let me explain why I am standing here saying this. Believe me, I would much prefer to live a quieter life. N-6CDmqiZ1JL-sG91P27PpWz8A=/0x600/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/5230565/06_2013_NATURAL_HISTORY_GARDEN-21.0.jpg' alt='Homes &Amp; Gardens - 06 2013' title='Homes &Amp; Gardens - 06 2013' />However, following my apology for my former anti GMO activism at my Oxford speech in January, I have been subject to a co ordinated campaign of intimidation and hate, mostly via the internet. Even when I was at school I didnt give in to bullies, and at the ripe old age of 4. I am even less inclined to do so now. Moreover, I have been encouraged by emails and other support from globally renowned scientists who are experts on this issue, and who all said basically the same thing to me You think youve got hatemailWatch breaking news videos, viral videos and original video clips on CNN. Hours Ago. BERKELEY, Calif., Nov 18 Economists presenting at a conference earlier this week blew through the organizers fourslidesperspeaker limit, and the. A look inside the house built for the movie Practical Magic with Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock and torn down after filming. Creston BC Real Estate Private Home, Commercial, and Kootenay Acerages Creston British Columbia Real Estate Homes For Sale. The most authoritative guide to the worlds largest licensors and properties, which represent almost 230 billion in global retail sales of licensed merchandise. Download Don Bradman Cricket 14 Update Torrents'>Download Don Bradman Cricket 14 Update Torrents. It looks like youre trying to find a page that may have been moved or not longer exists. Please try using our search function to find your content. Are you looking. PetersenDean Roofing Solar Energy reviews and complaints, reviews of the brands of solar panels they sell, their locations and the cost of installations reported to. Homes &Amp; Gardens - 06 2013' title='Homes &Amp; Gardens - 06 2013' />Protect your home, business, property, and septic system from flooding and storm damage. Improve stormwater quality. Build cisterns, rain gardens, and more. Sheet1 Classification Description equal to Active Permit Coverage Approval Date is not null Permit Number Operator Name Construction Activity Location Name. Browse Allentown PA real estate listings to find homes for sale, condos, commercial property, and other Allentown properties. Welcome to my world. I think these scientists are the unsung heroes of this saga. They carried on with their important work and tried year after year to fight against the rising tide of misinformation, while people like me were belittling and undermining them at every turn. I wont mention names, but they know who they are. Some of them are here today, and I would like to give them my deepest thanks. So for me also there is also a moral dimension to this. The fact that I helped promote unfounded scare stories in the early stages of the anti GMO movement in the mid 1. Screen-Shot-2013-06-28-at-10.16.42-AM.png' alt='Homes &Amp; Gardens - 06 2013' title='Homes &Amp; Gardens - 06 2013' />I now feel compelled to speak out against them. I have a personal responsibility to help put these myths to rest because I was so complicit in initially promoting them. My activism, which I wrongly thought of at the time as being environmental, has done real damage in the world. For me, apologising was therefore only the beginning. Hacked Arcade Dude And Zombies Game more. I am now convinced that many people have died unnecessarily because of mistakes that we in the environmental movement collectively made in promoting anti GMO fear. With that on your conscience, saying sorry and then moving on is not enough. Some restitution is in order. Following a decade and a half of scientific and field research, I think we can now say with very high confidence that the key tenets of the anti GMO case were not just wrong in points of fact but in large parts the precise opposite of the truth. This is why I use the term conspiracy theory. Populist ideas about conspiracies do not arise spontaneously in a political and historic vacuum. They result when powerful ideological narratives collide with major world events, rare occasions where even a tiny number of dedicated activists can create a lasting change in public consciousness. In the 1. 96. 0s the conspiracy theories about Kennedys assassination reflected the profound feeling that there were shadowy people high up in the CIA and government who were subverting democracy, and fighting the Cold War by devious and deadly means. More recently, conspiracy theories about 9 1. Left had for the Bush Administration. Successful conspiracy theories can do real damage. In Nigeria an outbreak of Muslim conspiracy theorising against the polio vaccination campaign there led to a renewed polio outbreak which then spread to 2. In South Africa during the presidency of Thabo Mbeki the HIVAIDS denialist myth became official government policy, just as the anti GMO denialist myth is official European Union policy today. The result in South Africa was that hundreds of thousands of people were denied life saving anti retroviral treatments and died unnecessarily. The anti GMO campaign has also undoubtedly led to unnecessary deaths. The best documented example, which is laid out in detail by Robert Paarlberg in his book Starved for Science, is the refusal of the Zambian government to allow its starving population to eat imported GMO corn during a severe famine in 2. Thousands died because the President of Zambia believed the lies of western environmental groups that genetically modified corn provided by the World Food Programme was somehow poisonous. I have yet to hear an apology from any of the responsible Western groups for their role in this humanitarian atrocity. Cinema 4D R13 Full. Friends of the Earth was one of those responsible, and I note that not only has no apology been forthcoming, but Friends of the Earth Europe is still actively promoting GMO denialism in the EU in a new campaign called Stop the Crop. Check out their Youtube video to see how they have learned nothing in ten years. Another well known example is that of Golden Rice, genetically modified to contain high levels of beta carotene in order to compensate for the vitamin A deficiency which kills hundreds of thousands of children around the world and blinds many more every year. One study on the prospects for Golden Rice in India found that the burden of vitamin A deficiency could be reduced by 6. Here the actions of Greenpeace in forestalling the use of golden rice to address micronutrient deficiencies in children makes them the moral and indeed practical equivalent of the Nigerian mullahs who preached against the polio vaccine because they were stopping a lifesaving technology solely to flatter their own fanaticism. I think this campaign is shameful and has brought the entire environmental movement into disrepute, with damaging consequences for the very beneficial work that many environmentalists do. Greenpeaces campaign against vitamin A enhanced Golden Rice should therefore be cancelled, and I call on everyone concerned about childrens health to lobby Greenpeace and demand that this happens immediately and without delay. The anti GMO campaign does not even have the benefit of intellectual coherence.