Feed: Science Yahoo UK
Posted on: Thursday, April 18, 2013 21:00
Author: Science Yahoo UK
Subject: GM argument 'growing stronger'
GM is rising back up the political agenda as the evidence in favour of it grows "stronger and stronger", the Government's new chief scientific adviser said. Sir Mark Walport spelled out his belief that the genetic modification of crops has important potential benefits for humankind. But he insisted his job was merely to set out the science before ministers and not to attempt to sway their decisions. The same principle held for homeopathy, which he dismissed as "nonsense" yet was available on the NHS. EU regulations meant that "remarkably little" in the way of GM crops were currently grown in Europe, said Sir Mark, who took over from the previous chief scientific adviser Sir John Beddington this month. He added: "This is not something that's going to change overnight but I think (GM) is inexorably rising up the agenda again, because as a technology it's showing its value more and more obviously in terms of crops that are able to feed the world. I think the job of the scientific adviser is to set out the scientific case, and that scientific case is becoming stronger and stronger and stronger. But ultimately I'm very clear that my job is to advise on the science and it is then the politician's job to decide how to use that... The final decision is a political decision." Sir Mark was speaking in London after delivering a keynote speech at the annual meeting of the University of Cambridge's Centre for Science and Policy. He stressed the importance of judging technologies such as GM on the basis of individual merit. "For every genetic modification you have to ask what plant, what gene, for what purpose," he said. "The case will be strong for some and less strong for others. Each case has got to be looked at under its own merits. It's one of the serious problems of communication that we tend to treat a technology as if it's a single thing." An example of a valuable genetic modification would be one that prevented potato blight, said Sir Mark. On the other hand there was an instance where development of a strain of GM soy had to be stopped. The introduction of a Brazil nut gene intended to boost levels of a deficient amino acid threatened to trigger allergies in some people. Sir Mark said he would be "full and frank" in his private conversations with ministers. "My job is to provide the best, most accurate scientific advice," he said. "The job of the civil service is classically sometimes portrayed as telling truth to power, and there's no doubt that is my job." Sir Mark was director of the Wellcome Trust from 2003 to 2013 and previously headed the Division of Medicine at Imperial College London. He was knighted in 2009 for services to medical research. |
_____________________________________________________
Climbed, Animal Breedings, Coffee News, Corner Entertainments, Gossip Celebrity, Coventry Health, Herbal Anxiety, Interior Design, Political Contributions, Science Friday, Sports WAE FC, Bally Technology, No 1Travel, World News, Inbox Berita
