Did anyone see the recent BBC Panorama documentary on GM entitled Cultivating Fear? To me it was most notable for previously vehement objectors of the technology now having an entirely opposite viewpoint. Mark Lynas, the former anti-GM activist, apologised for demonising an important technological option. Stephen Tindale, previously head of Greenpeace UK, stated that they were putting “ideology before the need for humanitarian action”, and that it was “morally unacceptable to stand against the technology”.
At a conference I attended this year, a leading professor argued that lack of consumer acceptance is a major roadblock to progress of the GMO debate. To me, this is hardly a surprise when customer specifications, supplier policy statements and technical undertakings all state that such material is prohibited.
With this very clear message, it is no wonder that there is little appetite from the industry to embrace, or even to fund, related R&D projects. In order for these obstacles to be overcome in terms of customer acceptance, there needs to be some clear consumer benefits. Perhaps information on enhanced nutritional value via bio-fortification, reduction in food waste or reduced pesticide residues would help.
I attended an FPJ Live event last year where Dr Jon Knight from the ADHB presented some interesting facts on the GM debate. Notably 27 countries are producing GM products, and 18 million farmers grow 113 million hectares of crops, producing 1 trillion meals.
My first job in the industry was at NIAB in Cambridge, where I was involved in varietal selection of field vegetables. Conventional plant breeding techniques have evolved using molecular biology to select desirable gene traits in plants. Surely genetic modification is an advancement of this technology? =
Consider some of the obvious benefits to our industry: Black Sigatoka-resistant bananas would certainly alleviate many of the current worker health and environmental concerns. Blight resistant potatoes are currently being trialled in Norfolk. Manipulation to suppress pest populations such as Sterile Insect Technique in Mediterranean Fruit Fly, or Spotted Winged Drosophila, are yet more examples.
Perhaps recent scientific news items reporting the progress of crop sprays utilising RNA interference could lead to an acceptance of a ‘GM-lite’ technology? It is claimed that this breakthrough technology could offer many of the benefits of GM without the safety concerns that altering genes inevitably brings.
GM technology offers significant benefits to agriculture, food production and human health – but only if regulators and the general public are prepared to accept it.
