Head of Pontifical Academy for Sciences says GMOs are step forward for evolution
October 15, 2012
The president of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences—an advisory body that is not part of the Church’s teaching authority—told the Synod of Bishops for the new evangelization that genetically-modified food represents a step forward in evolution.
After reflecting on scientific knowledge, evolution, and biodiversity, microbiologist Werner Abel of the University of Basel (Switzerland) said that “thanks to the recent advances in genomics, proteomics and metabolomics, it has become possible to direct biological evolution in order to better fulfill our needs for a healthy nutrition as a contribution to medically relevant improvements.”
“Our Academy concluded that recently established methods of preparing transgenic organisms follow natural laws of biological evolution and bear no risks anchored in the methodology of genetic engineering,” he added. “The beneficial prospects for improving widely used nutritional crops can be expected to alleviate the still existing malnutrition and hunger in the human population of the developing world.”
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Further information:
- Bulletin of the Synod of Bishops No. 13
- Vatican conference endorses use of genetically modified food (CWN, 5/27/09)
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Posted by: ebierer1724 -
Oct. 15, 2012 5:08 PM ET USA
The world already produces enough nutritional food, it's more a matter of getting the food into the mouths of those who need it. No doubt many people will see this statement as a vindication of bio-engineered food by monsanto, dow and others but does not actually address the inherent problems in allowing food to be modified under intellectual property rights and also require expensive and dangerous fertilizers and herbicides in order to complete this "step forward in evolution". It's not natural
