[Editor’s note: Karl Haro von Mogel has a Ph.D. in Plant Breeding and Plant Genetics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.]
I met up with Professor Shelley McGuire at Washington State University and two other members of her team, Kimberly Lackey and Bill Price, who together published the study that showed that breast milk did not contain glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup. … Scientifically this was uncontroversial, but McGuire’s team became embroiled in controversy because some organizations found it inconvenient for their political campaigns against the chemical.
Organizations like Moms Across America and Sustainable Pulse attacked her reputation and her research, while [US Right to Know] submitted records requests for all her correspondence.
[Editor’s note: Read the GLP’s profile on US Right to Know.]
At the height of it all, Shelley received a harassing postcard.
…
When people lash out at scientists with such hateful, tasteless, confused artifacts, it means that they are revealing parts of the universe that are dangerous to their identity.
…
I learned that conflicts of interest are not always what they seem. Dr. McGuire’s research was thorough, confirmed, and influential for public policy – everything that the organizations who attacked her were not. This contrast was also explained in Food Evolution (see my review here), which you should see if you haven’t yet done so.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: Glyphosate, breast milk, science and conflict
