General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: MoJo: What Did Monsanto Show Bill Nye to Make Him Fall "in Love" With GMOs? [View all]Adrahil
(13,340 posts)I'm a mechanical engineer by training and work in aerospace. But I'm a huge science geek and read lots of scientific articles and even journals.
I won't get into the issue of whether engineers are scientists, per se, but I will say that many engineers are at least sciencey enough to develop at least a layman's expertise in a variety of scientific areas.
For example, I am not a biologist, but I have done a lot of independent study in evolutionary biology and believe I understand to a high degree, for a layman.
But Nye isn't on thin ice here. Most genetic botanists are very comfortable with the concept of GMO's. They certainly DO have the appropriate credentials if you dismiss Nye or myself as just being peon engineers. The trick comes in from unintended consequences (like the the prolific use of pesticides with crops engineered to be immune to them causing devastation to beneficial insect populations), and in the dubious practice of licensing fees for self-producing seeds.
I'm not aware of any major scientific organization who believes there are SAFETY issues with GMO crops (correct me if I'm wrong). And frankly, as we progress in them, they could significantly alleviate hunger... if we can get by the profit issues.