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Transcript of GM crops, understanding the issues
© 2001 British Nutrition Foundation Nutrition Bulletin, 26, 145–146
Correspondence: Robert Pickard, Director-General, British Nutrition
Foundation, 52–54 High Holborn, London WC1V 6RQ, UK.
E-mail: [email protected]
Reproduced with the permission of Professor Pickard
GM Crops, understanding the issues is available free of charge from
Du Pont at http://www.dupont.com/biotech
NEWS AND VIEWS: RESEARCH AND INDUSTRY
GM crops, understanding the issues
Robert PickardBritish Nutrition Foundation, London, UK
Introduction
The following is the foreword written by Professor
Robert Pickard, Director-General of the BNF, to GMCrops, Understanding the Issues. This book was
produced with the support of the UK Agricultural
Biotechnology Industry, as a constructive contribution
to dialogue and as a point of reference. For more infor-
mation, see footnote.
Foreword
‘Genetic engineering is the single most important devel-
opment in biology since Charles Darwin’s exposition on
the origin of species by means of natural selection
in 1859. Both concepts, evolution by natural selection
and the modification of genotype to achieve phenotypic
goals, have evoked great controversy. This is in keeping
with the magnitude of their potential to change all our
lives. The impact is personal and public; economic
and philosophical. Both concepts challenge our appre-
ciation of the universe in which we make our living.
Facts are not science, just as words are not literature.
With the strategic vision of natural selection and the
tactical capability of genetic engineering, humankind
has built a conceptual matrix into which experimentally
derived facts can be logically inserted. The result is a
more complete understanding of our world and the
means to determine future change in the service of our
survival.
Nature is not benign. The world we inhabit does not
achieve its illusion of harmony through every instru-
mental species playing its scripted part in a great orches-
tra of the spheres. Rather, we live in a world of dynamic
equilibrium; a competitive balance between many
opposing forces in a multifactorial tug-of-war. The
performance is always improvised and a failure to har-
monise is punished with extinction. The standard of
living currently enjoyed by the technologically advanced
populations has been hard won and will be even harder
to keep. The suffering and inequalities of the poorer
populations are set to continue unless humankind, as a
whole, intervenes. For the first time in our history, we
have in genetic engineering the means to increase the
efficiency of food production whilst reducing environ-
mentally damaging methods of crop protection. We also
have the means to meet disease on a much more sophis-
ticated level: avoiding rather than curing. With knowl-
edge of the human genome and the specific relationships
between genes and the consequences of their expression
will come the ability to predict health expectations for
individuals. Apart from increasing the dietary levels
of iodine, iron and vitamin A in the staple foods of
deprived communities, it should become possible for all
citizens to maximise their opportunities for health and
happiness through the selection of an appropriate diet
within a health-promoting lifestyle.
The future of humankind will be influenced by the
extent to which we communicate effectively and the
success with which we select and adopt the technologi-
cal fruits of science. The great gains we have made to
date, with antibiotics and other scientific discoveries, are
only temporary and have bred complacency. When we
push against Nature, Nature pushes back. Continuous
adaptation is essential. We are in the midst of a battle
for survival. There is “no flying hence nor tarrying
here”, in Macbeth’s terms; we have to deal with our
problems now. New threats and disasters await us. As
in any battle, risks are everywhere. There are always
those who will rush ahead without adequate prepara-
tion and those who will hang back for fear of the
unknown. The sensible approach lies between the two:
145
bridled optimism; one cautious but calculated step at a
time. Critical evaluation is essential. Each application of
the new technology should be judged on its own merits.
We should not be afraid to reward the deserving and
146 Robert Pickard
© 2001 British Nutrition Foundation Nutrition Bulletin, 26, 145–146
reject the rest. Risk in battle can be reduced but not
eliminated. Those who would leave the fruits of science
to wither on the vine would leave us naked in a hostile
universe.’