Ronald Bailey

About the author: Ronald Bailey is science correspondent for Reason, a libertarian magazine, and author of ECOSCAM: The False Prophets of Ecological Apocalypse. He edited Earth Report 2000 and The True State of the Planet and has produced several series and documentaries for PBS television and ABC News.

"Green" (as opposed to "red," or medical) biotechnology is a welcome advancement and promises many diverse benefits. Scientific panels have concluded that genetically engineered (GE) foods are safe to eat, and people have been eating these foods for years without any apparent ill effects. Anti-biotech activists are standing in the way of allowing GE foods to help developing countries, and their arguments against green biotech are insubstantial and fallacious. For example, GE food opponents claim that the Monarch butterfly is threatened by pollen from GE corn crops...