Calls for realistic and workable regulation of “new genomic techniques” (NGT or new breeding techniques, “NBT”) for plant breeding cannot be heard. Those who advocate for them are mouthpieces for “capitalist science” according to a Greens/EFA report from the European Parliament. Joseph McCarthy returns!
Anti-GMO activism – which vilifies classic transgenic plants, those that have typically received a gene from another species, even phylogenetically very distant like a bacterium – is no longer popular: no GMOs are grown in Europe, except for MON810 maize… But the protest industry is regaining energy and vigor with the advent of “new genomic techniques.”
On September 29, 2022, the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA) in the European Parliament issued a statement announcing a “report”, “Behind the Smokescreen” with the subtitle, “The vested interests of EU scientists pushing for GMO deregulation.”
The report includes an appendix with “lobbying arguments” – at least we are clear about the nature of the document – and is accompanied by a “Briefing on the EU debate on new genomic techniques.”
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[According to the Greens,] it would be unwelcome and unbearable not to declare links of interest for the world of science — the one who expresses himself favorably on the NGT — but it’s no problem for the links between a political faction and the world of activism.But let’s go to page 2 of the report: We learn that it was written by Mrs. Claire Robinson, who is presented as co-director of GMWatch, a furiously anti-GMO pharmacy.
[Editor’s note: This article has been translated from French and edited for clarity.]
