from the quotes below:
"GM is more a case of alleviating problems for greedy shareholders than for alleviating poverty and hunger" - Prof. Bob Orskov, Head of the International Feed Resource Unit in the Macaulay Institute, Aberdeen, Scotland
more statements of concern by scientists here
http://members.tripod.com/~ngin/foodstatements.htm
and there's an excellent and extensive collection here
http://www.btinternet.com/~nlpwessex/Documents/gmoquote.htm
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Quotes from some members of the Independent Science Panel on GM
Prof. Miguel Altieri, agroecologist, University of California, Berkeley: "Agroecological farming methods are already reaching about nine million small farmers at one-tenth the cost incurred by official international agricultural subventions, and working miracles to increase food production, as well as the physical and social wellbeing of local communities. This must now be up-scaled to bring the benefits to all."
Prof. David Bellamy, itinerant botanist and campaigner: "At his capital trial, when charged with teaching subversive views to the youth of Athens, Socrates said in his defence, 'if in your annoyance, you will finish me off with a single slap, then you will go on sleeping until the end of your days, unless God in his care for you, sends someone to take my place'. 2,389 years later the world is still in need of the ethics of true academia."
Prof. Joe Cummins, Emeritus Professor of Genetics at the University of Western Ontario in Canada (Telephone 1-519 681 5477; E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ): "Commercialization of GM crops seems to have been based on public relations and not on full and truthful scientific reporting. Science has begun to feel the impact of putting commerce ahead of full disclosure and debate."
Prof. Stanley Ewen, histopathologist at Grampian University Hospital Trust, and leader of the Colorectal Cancer Screening Pilot in Grampian Region: "It is unfortunate that very few animal trials of GM human food are available in the public domain in scientific literature. It follows that GM foods have not been shown to be without risk and, indeed, the available scientific experimental results demonstrate cause for concern."
Edward Goldsmith, environmentalist, scholar, author & founding editor of The Ecologist: "Scientists have knowledge in a very limited field of expertise and often have no knowledge at all of all the other areas that are affected by, and impact on their narrow field. This is a very dangerous situation, which is why the public has to have a say on what sort of research should and should not be done."
Dr. Mae-Wan Ho, geneticist and organic physicist, Institute of Science in Society, UK (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , tel: 44-(0)20-7272-5636): "Genetic engineering is inherently dangerous, because it greatly expands the scope for horizontal gene transfer and recombination, precisely the processes that create new viruses and bacteria that cause disease epidemics, and trigger cancer in cells."
Professor Malcolm Hooper, medicinal chemist, University of Sunderland, UK: "The known effects of the herbicide glufosinate ammonium are sufficient to halt all field trials immediately, until critical questions about the metabolism, storage and reconversion of the N-acetylphosphinothricin have been fully answered for all pat gene-containing products."
Dr. Vyvyan Howard, medical toxi-pathologist, Liverpool University, UK (Tel: + 44 (0)151 794 5958; Fax: + 44 (0)151 794 5517; Mob: + 44 (0)151 794 7833): "What our regulators have is 'fact-free' risk assessment: there's little or no data, what relevant data that exist are simply ignored and dismissed, so they can conclude the risk is 'very, very low, effectively zero'. That's completely counter to the precautionary principle."
Dr. Brian John, geomorphologist and environmental scientist working with GM Free Cymru: "Those of us who have looked into the science of GM crops and foods from a community or consumer perspective have been appalled at the apparent abandonment of the precautionary principle and at the control exerted over the scientific agenda by the biotechnology multinationals."
Lim Li Ching, researcher, Institute of Science in Society and Third World Network: "Farmers around the world already have the knowledge, experience and innovative spirit that enable them to farm sustainably, through approaches such as agroecology, sustainable agriculture and organic farming. Learning from them means rethinking agriculture and associated policy making, and exploring how traditional knowledge and science can work together."
Dr. Eva Novotny, Scientists for Global Responsibility: "There is no evidence that unlike species have ever crossed during the billions of years that life has existed on earth. If Nature tried this experiment, it must have failed. We must not be so arrogant as to assume that we are more clever than Nature, lest we precipitate an irreversible chain of biological evolution that ends in catastrophe."
Prof. Bob Orskov, Head of the International Feed Resource Unit in the Macaulay Institute, Aberdeen, Scotland; "When at a recent hearing on GM food I was asked if I would drink milk from cows fed on GM modified maize forage. I said, 'not in the present state of knowledge'. This greatly disturbed some US colleagues. In my opinion, we need not be in a hurry to increase food production as we have overproduction. Why not make sure that GM intervention is indisputably safe first? In my extensive international travel on rural poverty alleviation missions I have yet to see a problem that could be solved by GM food yet it is an argument used by the GM lobby. GM is more a case of alleviating problems for greedy shareholders than for alleviating poverty and hunger".
Dr. Arpad Pusztai, formerly of Rowett Institute, Scotland: "Many scientists and the lay public hungry for information have been struck by the scarcity of published data relevant to the safety of GM foods. Not only that, the scientific quality of what has been published is, in most instances, not up to the usually expected standards of good science."
David Quist, microbial ecologist, University of California, Berkeley, USA: (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.): "Contamination has happened despite MexicoÃs regulations to protect maize genetic diversity within its centre of origin. There has been no research substantiating the safety of transgenic crops, especially in centres of genetic diversity, as is the case of maize in Mexico. This is risking the future of our food supply."
Dr. Peter Rosset, agricultural ecologist and Co-Director, Institute for Food and Development Policy, Oakland, California, USA http://www.foodfirst.org: "There is no pressing need for GM crops, as world agriculture is in overproduction, and people go hungry because of poverty, not because of lack of GM seeds, when they are too poor to buy from the plenty around them."
Dr. Veljko Veljkovic, AIDS virologist, Belgrade, Yugoslavia (Fax: +381 11 453 686 E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ): "The problem with genetic engineering is that the development of techniques is much faster than development of knowledge. As a consequence, the experiments cannot be completely controlled, and their outcome could be unpredictable and sometimes dangerous. GMOs are definitely involved in horizontal gene transfer and, for this reason, represent permanent potential source of new pathogens that could be created accidentally or intentionally. This is so especially for GMOs used in gene therapy, vectored vaccines and edible vaccines."