The book contains the most complete coverage of the topic in clear, simple language that I have seen, and would make an excellent textbook for schools. The debate about GM in the media has been dominated on one side by the Organic Conservation Association, Greenpeace and organizations led by Ralph Nader and Jeremy Rifkin. These anti-GM activists fabricate scary stories with no scientific consensus to back them up, and often operate behind a thinly veiled agenda to rid the world of capitalism and the common market. The GM industry on the other side counters that the technology is simply an extension of traditional breeding methods. McHughen explains why both sides are wrong.
All technologies have both benefits and risks.
So, to fairly discuss GM, McHughen compares it to commercial and organic farming on health, environmental and productivity grounds. McHughen explains that GM is not just an extension of traditional breeding methods. In one sense it is safer and more predictable because of the greater control over the process. In another sense, there is a potentially higher risk because of the wider variety of genes that can be combined in one product. That risk, however, has been blown out of proportion by anti-GM activists.