Charlie should modify stance

Aug 17 2008 by Ken Oxley, Sunday Sun

THERE’S no such thing as a genetically modified person . . . yet.

I suppose the nearest we have at the moment is someone who has been selectively bred. Someone like Prince Charles.

Odd, then, that HRH should be so vehemently against GM technology.

This week the heir to the throne and part-time Victor Meldrew had a right old rant at GM scientists, issuing doom-laden warnings that we’re heading for “the biggest disaster, environmentally, of all time”.

But are we? GM crops have been around for decades and I’ve yet to see any evidence of an impending catastrophe.

That’s not to say there are not important issues which need to be addressed, not least of all the stranglehold huge corporations might one day have on food production if we allow them to expand unchecked.

But what we need is a grown-up debate about the pros and cons of GM food, not a load of hysterical invective from a miserable old curmudgeon who talks to plants.

No one — not even GM scientists — claim the technology is the answer to all the world’s ills.

What they do claim, however, is that it can play an important part, along with other measures, in improving yields.

It has been reported that 12 million farmers in 23 countries grew GM crops last year. Surely they can’t all be wrong.