Pusztais GM work flawed Royal Society
18 May 1999
Pusztai’s GM work ‘flawed’ — Royal Society
By FWi staff
RESEARCH by Dr Arpad Pusztai – which prompted last Augusts row over genetically modified (GM) food – was flawed, a Royal Society panel said today.
Dr Pusztai, from the Rowett Institute, Aberdeen, fed GM potatoes to rats. He claimed the animals immune systems were damaged and their growth stunted as a result.
The panel of six toxicologists and nutritionists said “it would be unjustifiable to draw conclusions” from Dr Pusztais results.
Last August, the Rowett Institute suspended Dr Pusztai after he claimed in a World in Action television interview that rats fed GM potatoes had stunted growth and a defective immune system.
The institute said Dr Pusztai had no evidence on which to base his assertions and claimed that he had become “muddled” over experiments that had not taken place.
He was also accused of breakling sciemtific protocol by releasing results before they had been inspected by other scientists in a “peer review”.
Dr Pusztai faced the House of Commons Science and Technology select committee in March, when he stood by his claims.
That committee is due to publish its report on the way the affair has been handled on this afternoon.
Both reports come a day after the British Medical Association called for an open-ended ban on the introduction of genetically-modified crops and food.