Sir John Krebs, the government's chief advisor on food safety, has called for an international body to address public concern over genetically modified (GM) plants and animals. The new body should monitor the multinationals and advise governments on consumer safety and ethics, he told the Edinburgh conference on GM food safety last week. Sir Robert May, the government's chief scientific officer, supported the proposal. He said the current row (over GM foods) was a forerunner of arguments over issues such as human cloning and the use of animal organs in transplants.
The conference, organised by the government, failed to resolve many of the controversial issues surrounding GM technology, such as its safety, and whether it is the answer to feeding the world's growing population. 'We need a consensus among scientists round the world about what is acceptable and what is safe' said Sir Robert. He likened the new body to the world panel on climate change, set up by the United Nations: 'We need the same for biotechnology, a world body that can point the way forward.'
Sir Robert May has been nominated as the next president of the Royal Society, Britain's most prestigious scientific association and will step down from his government post in September.
Sources and References
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World call on GM
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High Society
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Call for world to police GM science
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