What topic can embroil one of Britain's leading scientific journals, various newspaper, TV and radio commentators, as well as the Royal Society British counterpart to our National Academy of Sciences in heated controversy? The culprit, at least at first glance, is genetically engineered potatoes. But the real question underlying this latest skirmish in the bioengineering wars is 'what constitutes good science?'
The furor first arose in 1998 when Dr. Arpad Pusztai announced to the world via the media that his research on rats showed that genetically engineered plants could be dangerous to human health. Pusztai, a researcher at the Rowett Institute in Scotland, and colleagues had genetically modified potatoes by inserting a gene from small flowers called snowdrops.
