Monsanto Chief Technology Officer explains why in written piece
By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com
When Bill Nye "the Science Guy" changed his position on GMOs in Feb. 2015, there was lots of positive reaction among crop farmers. And now a Monsanto exec has penned an article for The Huffington Post supporting Nye and describing the about-face as "the best scientific tradition."
In the first edition of his book “Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation”, he suggested GMOs may pose various environmental risks.
However, after visits with other scientists and to Monsanto’s facilities, Nye conducted his own research, concluded that GMOs are a viable option for food production and admitted it publicly.
“I have revised my outlook and I’m very excited about telling the world,” Nye said during an interview on Real Time with Bill Maher – Nye has since re-released his book with the revised chapter on GMOs.
“In other words, Bill dug deeper into the issue and then recognized he'd been mistaken,” Dr. Robert Fraley, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Monsanto wrote in a piece for The Huffington Post. And then he had the courage to admit it.”
Fraley said Nye’s change of heart when it comes to GMOs is good for science.
“For science to move ahead, therefore, it's critical that the people who pursue it be willing to recognize and correct their mistakes,” he wrote. Otherwise science - and humanity - get stuck.”
Fraley also points out that Nye is hardly the first scientist in history to admit their mistakes and failures.
He references a quote by Thomas Edison, who didn’t see his scientific shortcomings as failures.
“I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that won’t work,” Edison is quoted as saying.