While the words fly, scientists keep working for producers. If they wait, they re accused of bowing to zealots, and lose valuable research time. If they don t, they re criticized for being insensitive to public concerns, no matter how small and self-motivated that public is.
Time is the key.
It can easily take 10 years to bring on a new technology. If scientists lose momentum in their laboratories and test plots they ll fall far behind. Globally, that could be devastating, as the population explosion marches on. On Tuesday, October 12 just four days before World Food Day, and hardly 24 hours after Thanksgiving Earth s six billionth human was born, one of 370,000 babies who join the population every day. Against that backdrop, it would seem researchers can t wait.