The development of genetically modified foods has great potential, but the benefits are sometimes exaggerated. By the same token the presumed risks of the genetic technologies are also overstated by those opposed to their use.
It was difficult to steer a middle ground through the difficult GM debate, according to Prof Peter Jones of the Department of Plant Science at University College Cork. "The problem is all the debate at the moment is polarised."
Prof Jones last night presented a talk entitled, "Genetically modified plants: fact, fiction and perceptions", as part of the Science Week Ireland events, which continue until next Sunday. "I am not trying to push one point of view. What I am trying to do is provide as much balance and perspective as possible and then let people make up their own minds," he said.
He explained the history and development of plant breeding and described how the new genetic modification technologies came into play through the 1970s and 1980s. The first GM organism was produced in 1970 and the first GM plant arrived in 1983, he said. He urged people to "evaluate the product, not the process", because GM technology could help develop useful products.