They were charged with disorderly conduct. Inside the convention hall, speakers today included Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and Lt. Gov. Jane Swift. Protesters argued Sunday that genetically engineered foods and medicines have not been proven safe and should not be sold. Industry officials disagree. They say genetically engineered foods, from tomatoes to soybeans, have been studied and given a thumbs-up by federal regulators.
Biotech foods are the only foods that have been studied to any extent for safety.
Protesters ignore the industry's successes, according to Carl B. Feldbaum, president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, sponsor of the conference. In 1999 alone, Feldbaum said, the Food and Drug Administration approved 22 new biotech drugs to battle ovarian cancer, influenza, arthritis and other ailments. The protesters' attention has even had an upside for the industry, according to Feldbaum. Seven thousand would have been a record and it looks like we're going to break 8,000. Johnson blamed the media for raising the specter of the World Trade Organization riots in Seattle last December.