Two UCLA faculty members — molecular biologist Robert Goldberg and international law and policy scholar Edward Parson — defended the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food production at a Zócalo/UCLA discussion [on Dec. 14].
Goldberg, director of the Seed Institute, and Parson, co-director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the UCLA School of Law, joined Los Angeles Times food columnist Russ Parsons in maintaining that GMOs shouldn’t be controversial at all.
. . . .
The biologist explained that he sees no difference between “manipulating a gene the classical way, through breeding, or by adding a gene.” …
Parson, who … has advised the U.S. and Canadian governments on environmental policy, said he was puzzled why people have become so passionate about this issue.
Asked whether we know for sure that GMOs are safe, Parson said, “You never know for sure, because you can’t prove a negative.” After more than a quarter century of growing GMO crops in North America, no detrimental impacts have been detected in North America compared to Europe, where people have been exposed very little to GMOs, he noted.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: UCLA molecular biologist, environmental law scholar defend GMOs
