GM Watch
  • Main Menu
    • Home
    • News
      • Newsletter subscription
      • News Reviews
      • News Languages
        • Notícias em Português
        • Nieuws in het Nederlands
        • Nachrichten in Deutsch
      • Archive
    • Resources
      • GM Myth Makers
      • Non-GM successes
      • GM Quotes
      • GM Myths
      • GM Firms
        • Monsanto: a history
        • Monsanto: resources
        • Bayer: a history
        • Bayer: resources
      • GM Booklet
      • GM Book
    • Contact
    • About
    • Donations
News and comment on genetically modified foods and their associated pesticides    
  • News
    • Newsletter subscription
    • News Reviews
    • News Languages
      • Notícias em Português
      • Nieuws in het Nederlands
      • Nachrichten in Deutsch
    • Archive
  • Resources
    • Non-GM Successes
    • GM Myth Makers
    • GM Quotes
    • GM Myths
    • GM Firms
      • Monsanto: a history
      • Monsanto: resources
      • Bayer: a history
      • Bayer: resources
    • GM Booklet
    • GM Book
  • Donations
  • Contact
  • About

INTRODUCTION TO GM

GMO Myths and Facts front page.jpg

GENE EDITING MYTHS, RISKS, & RESOURCES

Gene Editing Myths and Reality

Response to Watson comments

  • Print
  • Email
Details
Published: 12 December 2000
Twitter

This seems well worth responding too.  The original article reporting Watson's behaviour can be seen in the ngin archive:
http://members.tripod.com/~ngin/JM100.htm

As Marcy and Richard note, Watson is a key figure in the current campaign in support of human "germline" genetic engineering and his support for GM foods has been widely trumpeted.
*  *  *

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

We're writing to ask that you send an email of appreciation to San Francisco Chronicle biotech reporter and columnist Tom Abate. Here's why:

In a front-page story last month, Abate reported on the egregious behavior of James Watson at a recent lecture at UC Berkeley, in which he asserted that skin color is biochemically linked to sexual activity, and thinness  to ambition. Outraged students and faculty characterized his remarks as  "racist, sexist and unsupported by any scientific data."

(Abate, "Nobel  Winner's Theories Raise Uproar in Berkeley," 11/13/00, <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/11/13/MN111208.DTL>.)

In his column in today's Chronicle, Abate reports that since the story was  published, he has heard from more readers who SUPPORT Watson's statements  and behavior than from readers who oppose them. However, rather than back-track, Abate today explains that Watson's behavior at
the UC lecture is the  latest instance of a long pattern of arrogance, and calls Watson's remarks "the crudest of genetic determinism." (Abate, "Readers Defend Nobel Laureate's Opinions," 12/11/00.)

To our knowledge, Abate is the first journalist in a major daily to call James Watson to account for this sort of behavior. It's especially significant because Abate's beat is the biotech industry, and because Watson is a key figure in the current campaign in support of human "germline" genetic engineering.

It's important to show Abate - and by extension, other journalists - that his independence, initiative, and critical insight are appreciated.

Please email Tom Abate at <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>.

Thanks!
Marcy Darnovsky        Richard Hayes         Tania Simoncelli

Techno-Eugenics Email Newsletter
Exploratory Initiative on the New Human Genetic Technologies
466 Green Street
San Francisco, CA  94133
415-434-1403

Menu

Home

Subscriptions

News Archive

News Reviews

GM Book

Resources

Non-GM Successes

GM Myth Makers

GM Myths

GM Quotes

GM Booklet

Contacts

Contact Us

About

Facebook

Twitter

Donations

Content 1999 - 2025 GMWatch.
Web Development By SCS Web Design