Peter Pringle

Sympathetic portrait of one of the leading Russian scientists of the 20th century, whose downfall in the 1930s was a personal tragedy, and a tragedy for Russian agriculture, as it led the way for the rise of the charlatan Trofim Lysenko. Amazingly, and I think unlike many other victims of the Great Purge, Vavilov left behind a number of traces, and his great work, the seed collection of his institute, largely survived intact. Of note was the reaction of scientists abroad to his demise -- would any victim fare this well today?… (meer)

In Food, Inc. Peter Pringle explains the scientific, political, and legal history of genetically modified foods. The book was written in 2003, so it is incredibly dated as far as the subject matter goes, but I was looking for a book that was somewhat unbiased, and they are few and far between with this incredibly controversial issue.

I don’t think I will ever completely understand how genetics works or how scientists have been able to do all that they have with genomes, but this book did enhance my understanding of the scientific process of genetic modification. It also refreshed my memory on some of the legal battles surrounding GM foods and scientific studies that have been done on these foods.

Overall, I found the book to be readable and well-researched.

A few opinions (mostly on the issues rather than the book….)

Since GM foods are considered “substantially equivalent” to their non-GM counterparts, there is no compulsory testing by U.S. regulatory agencies. Companies that manufacture genetically modified seeds are responsible for testing for safety themselves before releasing them to the public. I’m not saying GM foods are inherently unsafe, but should we really trust corporations to do their own testing?

The whole patenting of genetic materials/seeds/living things bothers me. I am not completely up to date on current legal issues regarding patents on genetic material and since this book has been published several of more ridiculous patents have been revoked, but there still seem to be some problems.

Human ingenuity blows my mind. People can be really, really smart. They can also be really, really greedy, and therein lies the problem. If only scientists could just be scientists and learn, innovate, and discover without interference from big money.

But alas, that is not the world we live in.

It is hard to know the long term consequences of our actions as a society. It is impossible to tell in what direction science will take us. The genes we modify today may come back to haunt us twenty years. Or they may save us from mass starvation. Time will tell. I realize this science could hold a lot of promise. I just wish we’d proceed with a little more caution and a lot less greed.… (meer)

A Russian scientist, brilliant maintains a single of desire: to breed different varieties of plants from around the world that might help to end starvation. He found plants in different parts of the world with characteristics that fit the area and created the world's largest seed bank and began trying to help Russia feed itself and hoping someday to feed the world.

Sadly, his story does not end well. A political opportunist arose who was able to discredit him with a competing view of the way plants grow and change over time. While this competing view had significant problems it was politically palatable and became the view of the Russian government. Ending with Nikolai Vavilov being sent to prison, condemned to death and ultimately he starved to death in jail in 1943. Ironic that the man who spent his whole adult life only caring about plants and trying to feed the world was killed by his government by starvation in a prison cell.

His seed banks were in many cases preserved. Even to the point of several parts living thru the siege of Leningrad. Some of scientists starved to death and afterwards the seeds they preserved were found. Rice and other grains they refused to die instead of eat to preserve.

Another bloody blot on the history of communism.… (meer)