快猫短视频

Editorial: The pope鈥檚 genetically modified crop dilemma

快猫短视频s have both the right and a moral duty to be 鈥渟tewards of God鈥� by genetically modifying crops to help the world鈥檚 poor, scientific advisers to the Vatican said this week.

In a , a group of scientists including leading members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences is demanding a relaxation of 鈥渆xcessive, unscientific regulations鈥� for approving GM crops, saying that these prevent development of crops for the 鈥減ublic good鈥�.

The statement was agreed unanimously by 40 international scientists after a week-long closed meeting held in May 2009 at the Vatican, convened by Ingo Potrykus. Potrykus is a member of the Pontifical Academy based at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, where he developed 鈥済olden rice鈥�, a variety engineered with extra vitamin A to prevent childhood blindness.

Although the academy has yet to officially endorse the statement, it was approved by the seven members at the meeting, including academy chancellor Marcelo S谩nchez Sorondo. 鈥淭he Catholic Church has 1 billion members,鈥� says academy member Peter Raven, president of the Missouri Botanical Garden in St Louis, which once received funds from Monsanto. He adds that although this global community will never have a unified official line on GM crops, 鈥渙ur statement is about as close as you can get to one鈥�.

Immaterial risks

The academy expressed provisional support for GM crops in 2000, but the scientists say that it can now back the technology with more confidence. The statement calls for a revision of the , agreed in 2000 to regulate the movement of GM organisms between countries.

It says the environmental risks envisaged when the protocol was drafted have not materialised, adding that regulatory hurdles make it too expensive for anyone other than large multinational firms to develop crops benefiting the poor, such as drought-resistant cassava and yams.

Also challenged is the objection made by critics of GM that, by messing with nature, genetic engineers are 鈥減laying God鈥� (see 鈥淣o uncertain terms鈥�). The statement denounces as outdated many allegations made by GM critics. 鈥淭here has not been a single documented case of harm to consumers or the environment,鈥� says Potrykus.

He and the co-authors therefore argue for relaxation of what they say are draconian regulations preventing development of crops for the poor. Potrykus says his attempts to bring golden rice to poor consumers demonstrate the scale of the problem. 鈥淚t took 10 years longer and $20 million more than a normal variety to commercialise it,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he time and investment required is prohibitive for any public sector institution, so the future use of this technology for the poor totally depends on reform of regulation,鈥� he says.

Anti-GM group Friends of the Earth maintains that GM crops are not the solution. 鈥淲e need food and farming policies that put the needs of people before the profits of a handful of GMO companies,鈥� says campaigner Mute Schimpf.

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