Anatomy Of A Smear Attack on GMO Supporting Scientists

This post was co-written with Val Giddings Recently on the Huffington Post we came across a disturbing article - an attack by Jeffrey Smith on two respected university professors who apply a critical eye to the claims made by various advocates alleging dangers to human health linked to genetically modified organisms (GMOs.) Smith, if you are not familiar with him, heads up a one-man band rabidly anti-GMO organization known as the Institute for Responsible Technology--he and his organization are controversial to say the least, but more on that later. The subject of the attack piece was co-written by University of Illinois emeritus professor Bruce Chassy and University of Melbourne geneticist David Tribe. It appears on the website of AcademicsReview, an independent non-profit set up by the scholars to address the maelstrom of misinformation that passes for debate on the GMO issue. In one of their most pointed and heavily circulated critiques, Chassy and Tribe examine one of Smith's two self-published books that supposedly 'prove' that GMO foods are reckless and dangerous. Chassy and Tribe's critique titled "Yogic Flying and GM Foods: The Wild Theories of Jeffrey Smith," addressed each of the 65 major claims Smith makes about the safety of GMOs, using peer reviewed research and fact-based evidence to refute every one. Smith's response in the Huffington Post defends his claims by citing the example of the FLAVR SAVRâ„¢ tomato. Let's take a closer look at Smith's "new" cla...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news