Nobel Prize winners endorse boitech

Nobel Prize winners James Watson and Norman Borlaug join more than 1,000 other scientists from around the world in endorsing a "Declaration of Scientists in Support of Agricultural Biotechnology."

The declaration, drafted by Professor C.S. Prakash of Tuskegee University, calls biotechnology a "powerful and safe means for the modification of organisms," and says that biotechnology "can contribute substantially in enhancing quality of life by improving agriculture, health care, and the environment." Professor Prakash added that "despite the nonsense being spread by anti-biotech activists, this technology can actually improve environmental conditions while helping to boost world food production."

In the Philippines, a hundred Filipino scientists of various research institutions in the University of the Philippines at Los Baños and the Department of Agriculture's Philippine Rice Research Institute (DA-PhilRice) expressed their support for the development of agriculture biotechnology in the country. The scientists also lauded the decision of the National Committee on Biosafety of the Philippines (NCBP) to approve the field testing of Bt corn. The group cited that the approval to field test opens opportunities for Filipino farmers and Filipinos, in general, to evaluate key technologies which can significantly contribute to the farming sector and the society at large.

The declaration of support comes in the wake of claims by some groups that Bt corn and field testing of such products are unsafe.

Drafted just three weeks ago, the scientists' declaration has already attracted the signatures of over 1,000 scientists, including such notable agriculture and health experts as: Gurdev Khush, rice breeder with the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines, and past winner of the World Food Prize; Ingo Potrykus, developed of the new "Golden Rice" variety with added beta carotene and iron.

James Watson, who with his colleague Francis Crick, discovered the double helix structure of DNA and the two shared the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their achievement; Norman Borlaug, considered the "Father of the Green Revolution," developed many of the hybrid wheat varieties used to boost food production in Mexico during the 1950s to the 70s, and helped spread the Green Revolution to South America and Asia. Borlaug was awarded the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to increase world food production.

"There is no scientific reason to believe that genetically-engineered foods are any less safe than the foods we've been eating for centuries," said Professor Prakash, "so we members of the scientific community felt it necessary to counter the unfounded attacks that anti-biotech activists are spreading about these products."

Furthermore, as Filipino scientists mandated to utilize science-based innovations to meet the challenge of ensuring food security for all Filipinos, the scientists see the Bt corn field testing as an important step to determine if this particualr biotechnology product is appropriate for the Philippines or not.