“The implication that funded research equals biased research perpetuates a misunderstanding about how universities operate,” writes Ken Grace, entomologist and Interim Associate Dean and Director for Research in the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources at the University of Hawaii, Maona.
The article is in response to fellow UH scientist Hector Valenzeula’s accusation in Civil Beat that some crop genetics researchers at UH are biased because of where they get their funding. University researchers generally have to apply for funding through extramural sources, both private and public. Private companies fund research at the universities “precisely because they want new and unbiased information,” and “they look to experts in the field for honest results.” The “unfounded attacks on the ethics and motives” of fellow agricultural researchers should be “unacceptable.” Graces stresses that instead of “fearing bogeymen,” the debate should focus on real problems like land use policy, population growth, climate change and economic policies.
Read the full, original story here: Character Assassination Has No Place in GMO Discussion
