Letters: The value of new biology

In Kavitha Kuruganti's piece "How scientific are GM proponents?" (February 1), the author challenges the credibility of the scientific community regarding its knowledge of genetically modified (GM) crop biotechnology. She clearly betrays lack of even an elementary knowledge of new biology and modern-day research and development in creating novel products like GM crops. Kuruganti's mind is made up and she is not about to be confused by scientific facts and truths. The anti-GM lobby has completely politicised the GM crop issue in the country and specialised in a misinformation and disinformation campaign against GM crops with the public, politicians and some fringe political parties. Since the discovery of the structure and function of DNA by Watson and Crick in 1952, the staid world of descriptive biology has undergone a revolutionary transformation and scientists understand the basic mechanisms of a living organism at the molecular level. The field of modern biology is so advanced that scientists have been able to custom-create completely new organisms - a new field called "synthetic biology" since 2000. Instead of challenging scientists, Kuruganti is advised to retake Biology 101 and spend a month in a local plant biotechnology laboratory to gain a modicum of understanding of new biology.

Shanthu Shantharam Professor, Seed
Science Center and Biosafety Institute
for the Genetically Engineered
Agricultural Products (BIGMAP),
Iowa State University, USA

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