It takes courage, humility and honesty to admit mistakes. And how many of us haven’t jumped to wrong and impetuous conclusions in our youth. But Damascene Conversions don’t come any bigger than that of Dr Patrick Moore, a co-founder of Greenpeace, who these days campaigns against some of what he once stood for.
“Greenpeace and its allies have successfully blocked the introduction of golden rice for over a decade,” he said recently. And he went on to quote the World Health Organisation, which estimates between 250,000 and 500,000 children become blind every year due to vitamin A deficiency which golden rice can correct. Half of those children die within a year of becoming blind.
Golden rice is, of course, a genetically modified form of rice that, unlike conventional rice, contains beta-carotene in its kernel. It’s been available since 1998 and countless experiments have shown it can eliminate vitamin A deficiency. It could be argued that by “spreading misinformation about golden rice” (Moore’s words, not mine) in countries where the problem is most acute, Greenpeace and others have been responsible for the blindness and death of up to seven million children.
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View the original article here: GM opponents need a fundamental conversion
