Comments on: Book review – Seeds of Science: Why We Got It So Wrong On GMOs

By: Book review – Life as We Made It: How 50,000 Years of Human Innovation Refined – and Redefined – Nature | The Inquisitive Biologist

Mon, 25 Oct 2021 09:19:01 +0000

[…] I climb on that soapbox, let me clarify that I am not anti-science. I share Shapiro’s frustration about people’s irrational resistance to GMOs and have previously […]

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By: Book review – Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse | The Inquisitive Biologist

Thu, 02 Sep 2021 11:18:58 +0000

[…] What stood out throughout this part of the book is Goulson’s intellectual honesty: he is always willing to point out the shortcomings in studies. When discussing the controversial glyphosate debate – which has alternately been judged likely and not likely carcinogenic by major organisations – he remarks that even for a trained scientist “it is hard to know what to conclude” (p. 127) and that he is “not absolutely certain where the truth lies” (p. 132-33). Goulson shows a remarkable willingness to remain open-minded but will call bullshit where he sees it. Chemtrail conspiracy theorists “are generally dismissed as crackpots, and rightly so” (p. 193), but geo-engineering is risky. There is no link between 5G and COVID-19 but “just because some people are crazy does not mean that 5G has no consequences for the health of people or wildlife” (p. 197). Biodynamic farming is largely harmless, but “[…] there are aspects to [it] that are beyond the boundaries of conventional science” (p. 269). And though he recognises that genetic modification of crops could reduce the need for pesticides, the technology is now predominantly wielded by the wrong people – the only sensible opposition to GMOs in my opinion. […]

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By: Book review – Life Changing: How Humans Are Altering Life on Earth | The Inquisitive Biologist

Mon, 16 Aug 2021 10:18:12 +0000

[…] Making a distinction between this and modern, laboratory-based methods, as GMO opponents are often wont to do, is a good example of the appeal to nature fallacy. The difference is one of degree, not of kindShe […]

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By: Book review – Techno-Fix: Why Technology Won’t Save Us or the Environment | The Inquisitive Biologist

Sun, 10 Jan 2021 21:29:35 +0000

[…] unwilling to acknowledge it will be one of the necessary tools to keep feeding the world, deal with the impact of climate change on crops, or that we can take the best of both […]

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By: Book review – A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future | The Inquisitive Biologist

Thu, 29 Oct 2020 15:03:36 +0000

[…] agriculture – there is no mention of the tremendous potential of genetically modified organisms. Similarly unmentioned regarding renewable energy is the concept of energy density and our reliance […]

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By: Book review – Ocean Recovery: A Sustainable Future for Global Fisheries? | The Inquisitive Biologist

Fri, 29 May 2020 19:46:53 +0000

[…] with Greenpeace leading the pack (see also Confessions of a Greenpeace Dropout and my review of Seeds of Science for other examples of them ignoring sound science). Two areas that Hilborn highlights are, first, […]

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By: Book review – More from Less: The Surprising Story of How We Learned to Prosper Using Fewer Resources – And What Happens Next | The Inquisitive Biologist

Mon, 27 Apr 2020 10:08:57 +0000

[…] support continued scientific research and technological development (I have written about GMOs and other biotech tools before). Still – and I take note here of his remarks about the power and […]

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By: Book review – Ocean Recovery: A Sustainable Future for Global Fisheries? | The Inquisitive Biologist

Mon, 24 Feb 2020 12:42:51 +0000

[…] Confessions of a Greenpeace Dropout: The Making of a Sensible Environmentalist and my review of Seeds of Science: Why We Got It So Wrong on GMOs for other examples of them ignoring sound science). Two areas that Hilborn highlights are, first, […]

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By: Book review – Hacking the Code of Life: How Gene Editing Will Rewrite Our Futures | The Inquisitive Biologist

Thu, 09 May 2019 11:57:31 +0000

[…] Carey is very clearly on the side of Team Science. Much like Mark Lynas (see my review of Seeds of Science: Why We Got It So Wrong on GMOs), she is frustrated by the public opposition to genetic modification, often fueled by environmental […]

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By: Book review – A Matter of Taste: A Farmers’ Market Devotee’s Semi-Reluctant Argument for Inviting Scientific Innovation to the Dinner Table | The Inquisitive Biologist

Tue, 12 Mar 2019 12:20:32 +0000

[…] Mark Lynas who decries the opposition to genetic engineering on many grounds (see my review of Seeds of Science: Why We Got It So Wrong on GMOs). But ultimately, she joins the small but growing chorus of reasonable voices exemplified by the […]

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