The politics of genetically modified foods [podcast episode #08] (#GMOMonday)

Summary: Today is “Genetically Modified Monday” (#GMOMonday), the day of the week I am setting aside to think about and talk about some exciting and intriguing new genetically modified plants and animals. This week, I am excited to share with you the latest episode of the Institute podcast. In this podcast episode, I interview Dr. Henry Miller, former head of the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Biotechnology and the current Robert Wesson Fellow in Scientific Philosophy and Public Policy at the Hoover Institution. His research focuses on public policy toward science and technology, and he’s written extensively on the controversy surrounding genetically modified foods. There is no arguing that the human race has come a long way in agriculture. The foods that we now enjoy are the product of thousands of years of selective breeding, cross-breeding and hybridization, which has made them safer, tastier, healthier and easier to grow. Scientists now have a new tool in their quest to improve the foods we eat: genetic engineering. Genetic engineering is a precise way to create plants and animals with one tiny but important change. Improved varieties of food can be created by adding, subtracting, turning up or turning down single genes that encode for particular traits such as vitamin production or growth rate. In the podcast, Miller gives a clear picture of what it means for a plant or animal to be “genetically modified.” He also explains why he sees all of these methods of improving food as a “seamless continuum.” Genetically modified foods face great opposition from activists who claim that these foods are dangerous because they are “unnatural” and that they therefore pose a risk to human health.  Miller dives deep into the controversy and explains why these arguments are “exactly backwards.” Miller also discusses the upstream battle for government approval that genetically engineered farm salmon have been swimming for the past twelve years. He also touches on McDonald’s decision to drop genetically modified ingredients from their menu and explains what he calls the golden rice catastrophe. Click below to listen to the interview! You can chime into the discussion by tweeting, using the hashtag #GMOMonday (“GMO” stands for “genetically modified organism”). Did you miss last week’s post about corn? Get caught up here. Image credit: Eric May via Compfight