NEW YORK, N.Y. — On a recent podcast, well-known scientist Bill Nye explained how he has changed his mind about genetically modified (GMO) crops, and now believes them to be a safe and positive advancement in science.
Nye, known popularly as the writer, director and talent on the television series "Bill Nye, the Science Guy," has also worked as a mechanical engineer and is now CEO of the Planetary Society and an advisory board member of the Union of Concerned Scientists.
"StarTalk," the radio show and podcast of astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, was co-hosted for two episodes by Nye and comedian Chuck Nice in mid-July. In the two-part discussion, Nye explained he had changed his mind about what he wrote about GMOs in his 2014 book.
"I wrote a book, Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation, and in that book I had a chapter about genetically modified organisms," Nye said. "At the time that I wrote it, I said it’s always good to be cautious and you have to be careful about what you do to the ecosystem. But this led to controversy. I now claim that genetically modified foods are a good thing. I believe they are to the benefit of mankind."
Nye looked at studies on the difference between GMO and non-GMO nutrition and allergy content and concluded there isn’t any difference between the two. He said he also met with a co-winner of the 2013 World Food Prize, Robert Fraley, who played a big part in this decision.
Nye said GMO crops require less herbicide and other inputs than non-GMO crops, and that Fraley believes farmers can feed 9 billion people in the future with 2 percent less land. "I met the guy who won the World Food Prize, Rob Fraley, and in my opinion, he’s not such a bad guy," Nye said. "And he says we can raise more food than ever with less land."
When asked if there was a specific scientific reason that changed his mind, he said it was when he saw the advanced gene sequencing machines that companies like Monsanto now use to quicken artificial selection in crops.
"At the ‘be-hated’ Monsanto, what they are able to do now is sequence the gene of an individual plant at extraordinary speeds," he said. "Twenty years ago, it would take you maybe a month to get the gene sequence of, let’s say, a soybean plant. Now, they can do it about 10 million times faster."
Nye said this sequencing, and throwing out what genes are not productive, is essentially artificial selection – which humans have been practicing on crops and livestock to subsist for a long time, and it also happens naturally. "It turns out that the sweet potatoes that you and I know and love, assuming you know them and love them, are natural hybrids," Nye said. "Genes from other organisms got into sweet potatoes, and we enjoy them that much more as a result."
He also addressed consumer mistrust of seed companies such as Monsanto that produce GMOs. Nye said he attended an "anti-GMO rally" at one time and has heard all there is to be said on the topic.
"Monsanto used to make Agent Orange; so did Dow Chemical," he said. "It’s kind of part of a dark past – these companies were hired by the government to make this stuff, and they did, and they don’t anymore. I don’t know; what can you do?"
When asked to list the disadvantages of GMOs, Nye pointed out GMOs may be harming the monarch butterfly and bee populations.
"By using the highly-effective herbicides that GMOs are, we have been eliminating milkweeds, which nourish the monarchs," he said.
"So then the question is, have we been hurting other populations by eliminating certain weeds?"
Another unintended consequence he mentioned is stress on the bee population. He said monoculture – having large tracts of land dedicated to only one kind of crop – could stress out pollinators that have a great amount of one kind of plant to pollinate at one time.
"So GMOs are good and bad in some ways," he said. "However, I think the bad consequences could be managed, and I think it’s a necessary consequence of the world population increasing from 7.2 billion to 9.2 billion. You’ve got to do something to feed those people."
In regard to pending legislation in Congress about GMO food labeling, Nye said he doesn’t know why seed companies such as Monsanto and Pioneer do not put "Proudly GMO" on the food resulting from their products. He is of the opinion that if all GMOs were labeled, it would be the job of the market to sort out whether they are commercially desirable, and he believes people would come to the right conclusion.
At the end of the show, Nye took part in a "lightning round" in which he answered several queries briefly. One asked if Nye thought GMOs could lead to a future where people become GMOs.
"You are a GMO," he said. "Your parents chose each other."
To listen to this free two-part podcast on your mobile device, download through iTunes or another supported app (such as Podcast Republic), or to listen on your computer, visit www.startalkradio.net
