Some hailed the publication as a vindication of the researchers' claims, first aired in an interview on British television last year. But others argued the study was deeply flawed and that publication gave it a credibility it doesn't deserve. The editor of the Lancet, the prestigious British medical journal that published the findings in this week's issue, felt compelled to write a commentary defending his decision. I think if we hadn't published it, we'd be accused of censorship. Genetic engineering involves introducing a gene from one organism to another, often unrelated, plant or animal.
Scientists hope to use the technology to create more nutritious crops or food containing vaccines.
They already have genetically altered corn, soybeans and other crops to resist insects and week-killers. Although genetic engineering has met relatively little resistance in the United States, concern has grown since a Cornell University study found evidence that pollen from a genetically modified corn can kill larvae of the monarch butterfly. One reviewer said that, although the quality of the work was weak, it should be published to avoid criticism that it was suppressed, and another was strongly against publication. Only by welcoming that debate will the standard of public conversation about science be raised. Then re-subscribe with your new address.