Pandora's Picnic Basket: The Potential and Hazards of Genetically Modified Foods - Hardcover

McHughen, Alan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0198506740 ISBN 13: 9780198506744

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2000

Synopsis

Did you know that there are fish genes in some tomatoes? That Brazil nut genes in soybeans can result in potentially lethal allergic reactions? That rapeseed plants bred to be resistant to herbicides could become uncontrollable superweeds? Genetically modified foods do pose real risks, and in recent years they have become the focus of a pitched battle between scientists, entrepreneurs, consumer advocates, and environmentalists. Yet despite the great heat generated by the debate, there is very little real information on the subject, either about the technologies in use or about the regulatory processes established to protect us from potentially dangerous products.
Pandora's Picnic Basket explains, in clear and direct language, the technologies underlying genetically modified food, comparing them with other "natural" methods of plant breeding and production. Researcher Alan McHughen evaluates the safeguards in place from regulators around the world and asks whether these are sufficient. In particular, he examines the question of labeling, held by some to be an obvious way to help protect consumers, and addresses the honesty and usefulness of some of these labels. Throughout the book, McHughen offers fair-minded, well-informed accounts of issues of real concern, particularly environmental issues, and he outlines ways in which consumers can avoid genetically modified food if they so choose. The author uses question-and-answer boxes to address key issues and real case histories to illustrate the development and regulation of genetically modified food.
Genetically modified foods are increasingly available to the public. Pandora's Picnic Basket will help consumers make informed choices about this controversial technology.

About this title

About the Author

Alan McHughen is a Senior Research Scientist at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, and Chair of the International Biosafety Advisory Committee of the Genetics Society of Canada. He himself has developed genetically modified plants and therefore has first-hand experience of the technologies involved and the regulatory processes in all countries.

Reviews

As a developer of genetically modified (GM) linseed flax plants and the father of a daughter allergic to nuts, McHughen is more conscious than most people of both growing and eating food. He strives to raise the quality of public debate about GM foods by making scientific information accessible. In general, he succeeds, though parts of the book will be tough sledding for lay readers, which an incomplete list of abbreviations used in the text and a lack of references don't help. McHughen explains enough genetics in enough detail so that genetics applications to plants are clear, and so is what Monsanto and other companies are trying to do. He punctures myths, often with a gentle chuckle, and anti-GM and pro-organic believers won't like all of what they might read. But, then, neither will the transnationals and their advertisers. After full servings of science, common sense, and questions, McHughen concludes by advising readers to "stop worrying so much about your food; it's almost certainly healthier than you are." William Beatty
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Fulfilling his promise to teach rather than preach, McHughen opens with a discussion of the basics of genetic modification technology before putting this technology within the larger contexts of food and environmental safety, risk assessment, corporate operations, politics, and ethics. First learning the basics will require some effort on the part of many readers, but McHughen is convinced that the scientific concepts are not that difficult for ordinary, interested people to comprehend. This is a refreshing approach to a subject often treated by the media and others with sensationalism, wild speculations, and rumors of "Frankenfoods." McHughen's qualifications are outstanding. He is a senior research scientist at the University of Saskatchewan, chair of the International Biosafety Advisory Committee of the Genetics Society of Canada, and developer of his own genetically modified organism, linseed. His emphasis here is on the United States, Canada, Britain, and Europe. McHughen covers some of the same ground as Stephen Nottingham's Eat Your Genes (LJ 7/98), but he focuses more on the technology while Nottingham reports on industry, governmental, and regulatory developments. For public and academic libraries.DWilliam H. Wiese, Iowa State Univ. Lib., Ames
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0198506740
• ISBN 13: 9780198506744
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288