Over 100 Nobel laureates called for the end of Greenpeace’s opposition to genetically modified crops. They said that there is a very clear scientific consensus that modified crops are safe and in some cases a huge benefit to communities.
"Golden Rice" produces beta carotene in the grain, which rice does not do in the natural world.
The laureates called on Greenpeace specifically to stop opposing the grain, as well as related biotechnology that they say has a positive impact across the globe.
"The time has come that we now know these things are safe," Nobel laureate Sir Richard Roberts said. "The basic method does not lead necessarily to a bad thing.
The group of laureates said that by asking Greenpeace they hoped he huge international organization may be able to change the minds of smaller anti-GMO organizations. Greenpeace feels that the timing of the announcement, not long before a procedural vote on GMO labeling is to be made by the Senate, is dubious.
The laureates say science backs them up and urged Greenpeace to re-examine which findings the group uses in its advocacy.
"They are willing to dismiss the views of the vast majority of scientists," said Randy Schekman, who won a Nobel in physiology or medicine in 2013. "What I fail to understand is their acceptance of science and the scientific process when it serves their purposes, but in their opposition, they oppose the view of scientists."
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