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| Rogue's gallery opposes Golden Rice |
Posted: Saturday, March 21, 2009 11:45 am
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It
appears that Golden Rice will be released to farmers in the Philippines
by 2012. Already, deaths worldwide from Vitamin A Deficiency (VAD) are
over 16 million. By 2012, the number of deaths will be
millions
greater -- perhaps more than those who died
from Stalin's intentional
food-deprivation policies during 1932-33.
Opponents
of Golden Rice, like those who oppose GM crops generally, have
complained for at least a decade about the ethics of feeding GM foods
to humans without human testing. Now, they're complaining about human
testing.
Who are these people, who are willing to sacrifice
human lives for the sake of elusive, contradictory principles, in the
face of historical experiences universally regarded as misguided, and
more often, contemptible?
In an open letter to Tufts
University, the organization which is sponsoring three feeding trials
of Golden Rice, these people describe themselves as "all senior
scientists/academics with a professional interest", who view the work
as "woefully inadequate" and "completely unacceptable".
Copies of their open letter were sent to Tufts
Medical Center and TUHS Institutional Review Board --
Jennifer A.
Graf, BA IRB Administrative and Operations Manager
jgraf@tuftsmedicalcenter.org;
Dr David Chelmow Chair, Tufts University Institutional Review Board
dchelmow@tuftsmedicalcenter.org; and
Dr Leslie Curtis NIDDK Office of Communications and Public Liaison
lesliecurtis@mail.nih.gov .
Who are these people?
They
include Vandana Shiva, a physicist who cannot distinguish between rice
and weeds; Irina Ermakova, whose rat study results appear to stem from
mistreating the creatures; Judy Carman, known only for her political
connnections in Australia; Mae-Wan Ho and Eva Novotny, both of the
Institute of Science in Society, which specializes in post-modern
deconstruction of scientific texts; Joe Cummins, who specializes in
developing fictionalized accounts of peer-reviewed research for the
inspiration of anti-biotech fundamentalists; David Suzuki, who
specializes in fictionalized accounts of research for television
audiences; Ann Clark, who in her advocacy of organic farming may view
it as a form of 'natural family planning'; and Michael Hansen, whose
group represents those who'll never encounter VAD and have no real
reason to care.
Others signing this letter include:
Prof Malcolm Hooper, Emeritus Professor of Medicinal Chemistry,
University of Sunderland SUNDERLAND, SR2 3SD, UK.
Prof David Schubert Salk Institute for Biological Studies 10010 N.
Torrey Pines Road, La. Jolla, CA 92037 USA
Professor Brian Goodwin Schumacher College, Dartington Hall Estate,
Totnes, Devon TQ9 6EA
Dr
Michael Antoniou Head: Nuclear Biology Group King's College London
School of Medicine Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics 8th
Floor, Tower Wing Guy's Hospital Great Maze Pond London SE1 9RT, UK
Stanley
W.B. Ewen M.B.Ch.B., Ph.D., F.R.C.Path. Consultant Pathologist (Locum)
Department of Pathology, University of Aberdeen, Foresterhill Aberdeen
AB25 2ZD UK
Dr Mira Shiva MD Initiative for Health and Equity A 60 Hauz Khas New
Delhi, 110016 India
Dr
Brian John (Past Lecturer in Geography, University of Durham) Member,
Independent Science Panel Trefelin Cilgwyn Newport, Pembrokeshire SA42
0QN
Dr Phil Davies Director, Institute of Health and Environmental
Research, PO Box 155 Kensington Park, South Australia, 5068
Prof E R Orskov IFRU Macaulay Institute Craigiebuckler Aberdeen AB15
8QH
Professor
Leda Raptis, Ph.D. Department of Microbiology and Immunology and Dept.
of Pathology Botterell Hall, Room 713 Queen's University Kingston,
Ontario Canada, K7L 3N6
Professor Peter T Saunders Professor
of Applied Mahematics Department of Mathematics King's College London
Strand, London WC2R 2LS
Professor Carlo Leifert Res Dev
Prof of Ecological Agriculture Newcastle University School of
Agriculture, Food and Rural Development (SAFRD) Nafferton Farm
Stocksfield Northumberland, NE43 7XD, UK
Professor Ralph C.
Martin, Ph.D., P.Ag., Founding Director, Organic Agriculture Centre of
Canada Department of Plant and Animal Sciences Nova Scotia Agricultural
College Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada B2N 5E3
Joan Knox Food
Service Manager -Advocate for Children University of Guelph Child Care
and Learning Centre University of Guelph. 50 Stone Road East. Guelph,
Ontario, N1G 2W1 Canada
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