The head of the Institute commented on "how well Arpad had answered the questions" and "a range of carefully controlled studies underlie the basis of Dr Pusztai's concerns." The next day Pusztai was told to hand over his data, all GM work was stopped, the team was dispersed and he was threatened with legal action if he spoke to the press. He was banned from his laboratory and his phone calls and emails were diverted. Later the Royal Society, Britain's leading scientific body, was consulted by the government and rushed out a condemnation of his work without obtaining the final report. Then his data were stolen from both his home and the Institute (what burglar would be interested in these?) His work had been peer reviewed six times before being published in The Lancet (whose editor was threatened with loss of pension), well received at a scientific conference and backed by 30 international scientists.
When research is contested, the scientific method is to reproduce it. In this instance, attempts were made to rubbish the 1995-98 study but not to repeat it. The public became acutely aware of the difference between science and commercial science. And confidence in pronouncements on GM by government scientists and the Royal Society plummeted.
Don�t Worry
Andrew Rowell 2003
Seeds of Doubt
Soil Association 2003
