I-522 | Part 4 in a series | Science and anti-science in the GMO debate
Elias Schewel/Flickr Whose science? AGROECOLOGY & BIOTECHNOLOGY in THE FUTURE OF AGRICULTURE Devon G. Peña | Seattle, WA | November 5, 2013 A lot of naïve science has been involved in pushing this technology. David Williams, cellular biologist, UCLA Quoted in Scientific American September 2013, p. 80 Food is the cover story of the September 2013 issue of Scientific American . The issue features a fascinating “Truth About GMOs” brief that mostly reads like an apologia to Monsanto et al. (pp. 80-85), perhaps for the proliferation of problems both scientific and political economic. The briefing uses a sardonic and hyperbolic title, “Biotechnology: Are engineered foods evil?” This obviously derisive reference targets the anti-GMO m ovement’s tendency to use cutesy semiotic code words like “Frankenfood” and “Frankenfish”. More than anything this illustrates the danger of using humor while engaged in the act of conveying scientific evidence on the environmental and...