Biotechnology: Teaching the controversy?

Keith Kloor examines a new exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History called “Our Global Kitchen,” and how it deals with the thorny issue of biotechnology (read: GM crops) in relation to our food supply. An excerpt:

When it comes to evolution, no reputable museum would dare “teach the controversy,” a catchphrase used as a ploy by creationists some years back, when they tried to put “intelligent design” on an equal scientific footing with evolutionary biology… Is the American Museum of Natural History helping the public learn about biotechnology in its fine new exhibit on food and agriculture, or is it just teaching the controversy?

Overall, Kloor argues, it’s a good exhibit that hews a bit toward the broad and vague when it comes to directly addressing.

View the original article here: Teaching the Controversy

Related on the SLP

Viewpoint: Why Washington should sharply increase funding for intensive agricultural to address climate change, spur sustainability Viewpoint: The U.S. Congress needs to dramatically and quickly overhaul its regulation of agricultural biotechnology

Viewpoint: 4 very real AI doomsday scenarios

After Idaho criminalized abortion providers in 2022, one-third of obstetricians fled. Health care advocates are making rural health the case for repealing the ban

Anti-GMO activists in Pakistan rev up their campaign of dire warnings

Additional Resources:

• “A Feast With a World of Ingredients,” New York Times
• “Our Global Kitchen: Food, Nature, Culture: Additional Resources,” American Museum of Natural History