Genetically modified crops on the market are not only safe, but
appear to be good for people and the environment, experts determined
in a report released Tuesday.
But the National Academies of Sciences,
Engineering, and Medicine are not just asking people to take their word
for it. They're putting the evidence
up on a website so skeptics — and they know there are plenty of them — can check for themselves.
"You can't just continue to have an opinion without backing it up
with data," said Fred Gould, distinguished professor of entomology and
co-director of the Genetic Engineering and Society Center at North
Carolina State University.
"Part of our approach here was to make this not
just a report," added Gould, who chaired the expert committee that
released the report. "This is all on a website. We hope that this report
will open a conversation, not make some kind of a proclamation."
"They really want somebody to say this is good or this is bad, we
came to the conclusion that making any sweeping generalizations about
genetically engineered crops is not appropriate," Gould told NBC News.
Perhaps surprisingly, given the huge debate over
GMOs, only two types of genetically engineered crops are in wide use -
one engineered to carry genes from a common bacteria called Bacillus
thuringiensis (or Bt for short) that kills insects that eat it, and one
that makes crops resistant to weedkillers.
But more than 90 percent of corn, soybeans and cotton grown in the U.S. is genetically modified.
Note EU-Digest: funding for
the National Academies of Sciences,
Engineering, and Medicine also includes a variety of donors from the
Private Sector, including chemical companies involved in GMO development
and the sale of GMO treated products.
Read mpre: Genetically Modified Crops Are Safe, Report Says - NBC News