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Golden Rice, Frankenfood, and the torch-wielding mob

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Pubblicato il 04/03/2014Read time: 1 min

Most scientists hate the term “Frankenfood” applied to genetically engineered (GE) crops. Activists certainly use it as an insult. But did those activists actually read Mary Shelley’s book?
Mary Shelley’s creature is not at first a monster of despicable evil; quite the contrary, he is agentile and sensitive creature condemned to solitude and neglect and chased everywhere he goes by bigoted mobs that dislike him only for aesthetic reasons, because he seems to them a monstrosity. Listen at the creature’s lament when, after secretly helping a family of poor farmers, he finally decides to reveal himself:
“The more I saw of them, the greater became my desire to claim their protection and kindness; my heart yearned to be known and loved by these amiable creatures; to see their sweet looks directed towards me with affection, was the utmost limit of my ambition. I dared not think that they would turn from me with disdain and horror.” Continue reading on Sci-Phy

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Ariel Polandri (@ArielPoliandri) is Senior Post-doctoral Researcher in Stem Cell Disease Modelling at the Imperial College in London. 

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Crediti foto Boris Smokrovic su Unsplash

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On November 9, the European Council, the body defining the EU's policy directions, approved the Nature Restoration Law, one of the four main pillars of the European biodiversity strategy for 2030. A great achievement, yet leaving a bit of bitterness, considering the approved regulation was significantly weakened compared to the original.