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    No scientific consensus on GMO safety (2015)

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    Type of Content
    Journal Article
    UC Permalink
    http://hdl.handle.net/10092/10940
    DOI
    https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-014-0034-1
    Publisher
    University of Canterbury. Biological Sciences
    Collections
    • Science: Journal Articles [976]
    Authors
    Hilbeck, A., Binimelis, R., Defarge, N., Steinbrecher, R., Székács, A., Wickson, F., Antoniou, M., Bereano, P.L., Clark, E.A., Hansen, M., Novotny, E., Jack Heinemann, J., Meyer, H, Shiva, V., Wynne, B.show all
    Abstract

    A broad community of independent scientific researchers and scholars challenges recent claims of a consensus over the safety of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). In the following joint statement, the claimed consensus is shown to be an artificial construct that has been falsely perpetuated through diverse fora. Irrespective of contradictory evidence in the refereed literature, as documented below, the claim that there is now a consensus on the safety of GMOs continues to be widely and often uncritically aired. For decades, the safety of GMOs has been a hotly controversial topic that has been much debated around the world. Published results are contradictory, in part due to the range of different research methods employed, an inadequacy of available procedures, and differences in the analysis and interpretation of data. Such a lack of consensus on safety is also evidenced by the agreement of policymakers from over 160 countries - in the UN’s Cartagena Biosafety Protocol and the Guidelines of the Codex Alimentarius - to authorize careful case-by-case assessment of each GMO by national authorities to determine whether the particular construct satisfies the national criteria for ‘safe’. Rigorous assessment of GMO safety has been hampered by the lack of funding independent of proprietary interests. Research for the public good has been further constrained by property rights issues, and by denial of access to research material for researchers unwilling to sign contractual agreements with the developers, which confer unacceptable control over publication to the proprietary interests. The joint statement developed and signed by over 300 independent researchers, and reproduced and published below, does not assert that GMOs are unsafe or safe. Rather, the statement concludes that the scarcity and contradictory nature of the scientific evidence published to date prevents conclusive claims of safety, or of lack of safety, of GMOs. Claims of consensus on the safety of GMOs are not supported by an objective analysis of the refereed literature.

    Citation
    Hilbeck, A., Binimelis, R., Defarge, N., Steinbrecher, R., Székács, A., Wickson, F., Antoniou,M., Bereano, P.L., Clark, E.A., Hansen, M., Novotny, E., Jack Heinemann, J., Meyer, H, Shiva, V., Wynne, B. (2015) No scientific consensus on GMO safety. Environmental Sciences Europe, 27(1), pp. 4.
    This citation is automatically generated and may be unreliable. Use as a guide only.
    ANZSRC Fields of Research
    06 - Biological Sciences::0604 - Genetics::060499 - Genetics not elsewhere classified
    06 - Biological Sciences::0699 - Other Biological Sciences::069999 - Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
    05 - Environmental Sciences::0502 - Environmental Science and Management::050299 - Environmental Science and Management not elsewhere classified
    Rights
    https://hdl.handle.net/10092/17651
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