Opponents and proponents of genetically modified food have invoked science in their arguments, but science has no definitive answer.
Evaluating the risks and benefits of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) cannot depend on science alone, at least for now.
For the past two years, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NAS) worked on a report that was to become the most exhaustive analysis of the science on GMOs in agriculture.
The 400-page report, released earlier this year, covers everything from safety and regulation to policy and socio-economic issues. It is likely the best shot science has had thus far to clear the air on the issue of GM food. But will the report substantially impact the debate on GMOs?
“Not really,” said Jack Heinemann, professor of genetics at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. “It will inform lots of discussions, but mainly so far, I see it being selectively quoted to support pre-existing positions.”
Heinemann has been labeled anti-GMO, despite being a genetic engineer.
Henry Miller, on the other hand, has been said to back the GMO industry. He’s a former Food and Drug Administration GMO drugs reviewer, now with the Hoover Institution think tank.
Heinemann and Miller agree on the impact of the NAS report.
“[The] impact will likely be minimal,” Miller said via email. “The report is hardly definitive in any way, and because of the extensive ‘on the one hand, on the other hand’ equivocation, various aspects of it will be used by different people and organizations to support their own positions.”
Both experts have a point. At least one trade association and one environmental group used the report to fortify positions they apparently held before.
