Biologists Amplify Dialogue on Genetically Engineered Crops With
a Symposium on Ecological Implications Cockrell, Public Affairs
More than 20 biological scientists from the United States,
Canada, Europe and Latin America converged at Berkeley late last
week to share their diverse scholarship on the hotly debated
issue of genetically modified food crops. Transgenic crops raise
a wealth of issues -- among them health and environmental risks,
ethics, agronomic effectiveness, intellectual property rights
and corporate control of food production. But the March 2-4
symposium focused solely on the ecological implications of this
emerging technology -- an aspect that often gets short shrift,
say organizers of the symposium. "The pro-biotechnology people
say that sound science should prevail in the production and
regulation of genetically modified food," said Miguel Altieri,
associate professor of environmental science, policy and
management. "But sound science has many dimensions, and at our
workshop, one such dimens