Started on Halloween of 2008,ย Biofortified.orgย pooled together the work of various scientists who were frustrated by the environmental movementโs entire approach to GMOs. Since that time, the blog has blossomed into its own non-profitโBiology Fortified, Inc.โand now includes a plethora of writers on a wide range of topics.
In many ways Karl Haro von Mogelโone of the blogs co-founders and editorsโwas the perfect person to startย Biofortied.org. Haro von Mogel is a Ph.D. candidate in Plant Breeding and Plant Genetics at UW-Madison. While at UC Davis Haro von Mogel was a student of acclaimed plant geneticist Dr. Pamela Ronald. If the green gene movement has a founding text it is Ronaldโs bookย Tomorrowโs Table: Organic Farming, Genetics and the Future of Food.ย Ronald wroteย Tomorrowโs Tableย with her husbandโan organic farmer who once served as president for the California Certified Organic Farmersโand for many environmentalists its thesis is controversial: genetic engineering and organic agriculture practices can work side-by-side. In fact, they must if we are ever to have a sustainable agriculture system.
While most people treat genetic engineering and organic agriculture as worlds apart, the green gene movement is trying to think beyond the polarization. According to Haro von Mogel, the gulf between them constructs a false dichotomy. โI find the whole debate between organic and genetic engineering to be artificial and contrived. Because organic is about the way you grow cropsโฆ Genetic engineering is about getting a trait into a crop that you didnโt have before. It actually doesnโt make sense to me that you couldnโt have a genetically engineered crop grow on an organic farm.โ
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Read the full original article:ย Marco Rosaire Conrad-Rossi on Biology Fortified, Inc. | At the Vanguard of the Green Gene Movement and Beyond
