GMOs Decoded
A Skeptic's View of Genetically Modified Foods
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
The debate over genetically modified organisms: health and safety concerns, environmental impact, and scientific opinions.
Since they were introduced to the market in the late 1990s, GMOs (genetically modified organisms, including genetically modified crops), have been subject to a barrage of criticism. Agriculture has welcomed this new technology, but public opposition has been loud and scientific opinion mixed. In GMOs Decoded, Sheldon Krimsky examines the controversies over GMOs—health and safety concerns, environmental issues, the implications for world hunger, and the scientific consensus (or lack of one). He explores the viewpoints of a range of GMO skeptics, from public advocacy groups and nongovernmental organizations to scientists with differing views on risk and environmental impact.
Krimsky explains the differences between traditional plant breeding and “molecular breeding” through genetic engineering (GE); describes early GMO products, including the infamous Flavr Savr tomato; and discusses herbicide-, disease-, and insect-resistant GE plants. He considers the different American and European approaches to risk assessment, dueling scientific interpretations of plant genetics, and the controversy over labeling GMO products. He analyzes a key 2016 report from the National Academies of Sciences on GMO health effects and considers the controversy over biofortified rice (Golden Rice)—which some saw as a humanitarian project and others as an exercise in public relations.
Do GMO crops hold promise or peril? By offering an accessible review of the risks and benefits of GMO crops, and a guide to the controversies over them, Krimsky helps readers judge for themselves.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Krimsky (Science in the Private Interest), a Tufts professor of urban and environmental policy, digs into the controversy about genetically modified foods in this thoughtful, thorough book. Intended for "nonexperts," Krimsky's work lays out opposing "claims and counterclaims," demystifies the science, and shows "where there is consensus, honest disagreement, or unresolved uncertainty." To that end, Krimsky addresses seven questions, such as "What is known about the health assessment of genetically modified crops?" Applying "organized skepticism" to the available literature, he finds not one but many points of contention, beginning with where exactly the line between GMO and non-GMO products lies, and going on to how risk is defined and measured. Digging deep into bureaucratic procedure, Krimsky explains that the U.S. emphasizes "product-based" regulation "the method used to assemble or construct" a product is less important than "the properties it possesses after it is constructed" rather than the alternative process-based model, and thus does not treat GMO products as special cases. While these points may seem arcane, each one, Krimsky shows, is important for policymakers, and, by extension, for food consumers. Nutritionist Marion Nestle's foreword describes Krimsky's work a "gift to anyone confused" about the subject, an apt description for this fair-minded, informative primer.
