Instead, it should be seen as a call on the profession of Plant Scientists to contribute to education and balanced perspectives on this worldwide issue. The need for a strong voice in plant science One of the great things about ASPP is the breadth of its membership, spanning from ecophysiologist to molecular geneticist. Collective opinions are thus likely to be wide ranging, based on personal perspectives and research experience.
Diverse views are of course a normal, healthy aspect of scientific life.
However, it seems to many, myself included, that much of the present heated debate on GM is grounded in ignorance and fuelled by distortion, bias and vested interests. For example, it is equally unhelpful to declare that GM crops present no risks to health or the environment , as it is to take a stance that GM plants are universally hazardous . Good headline stuff. I am sure similar exercises occur in courses around the world. Realising that the vast majority of my audience are not destined to be plant scientists themselves, I suggest that, at the very least, on completion of this plant subject they should be armed with some objective information, a balanced perspective on GM plants and the confidence to participate in public debate and helping to shape future policy.