Use facts to win debate on GM food

Some anti-GM activists have committed similar mistakes in trying to explain to the public why they oppose the technology or mass planting of GM crops. For example, some have simply accused pro-GM activists of being agents of malicious GM seed companies in Western countries that intend to thwart China's future grain security. Some of them have even called GM crop supporters hanjian, or traitors, who trade national interests for personal gains.

It is hard for rational people to buy such sensational claims. So in the fitness of things, both sides should use rationality and facts to sell their opinions to the public.

GM crops and food are new to many, including some scientists not familiar with the specific field of genetic engineering. As a result, there have been many academic discussions and opinions on the safety of the new strains, their ability to increase yields and their impact on the environment.

Contrary to the expectations of industrial optimists when GM technology was first applied to crops, both cash crops and food crops, recent years have seen an increasing number of academic discussions highlighting the safety risks of GM crops and the uncertainties in increasing yields. Some scientists have warned against the potential dangers of GM crops on people's health, citing published (and peer reviewed) academic papers based on experiments. But in most of the cases, such experiments have been challenged by other scientists, leaving the public confused.

Researchers engaged in meta-analysis of the economic benefits of GM crops, however, have found that genetic engineering technology may not necessarily lead to increased yields - and the increase in yield depends highly on the maturity of a country's farming system and infrastructure. Even a US Department of Agriculture report, which was published in February and listed many benefits of GM crops and food, admitted: "Over the first 15 years of commercial use, genetically engineered seeds have not been shown to increase yield potentials of the varieties. In fact, the yields of herbicide-tolerant or insect-resistant seeds may be occasionally lower than the yields of conventional varieties".

Those who tout GM foods to the Chinese people, however, have often failed to tell them the other side of the story.

The onus to use more solid scientific research results is now on those opposed to GM crops if they want their views to be accepted by the public.

The author is a senior writer with China Daily.