Review of work of GM scientist

11 March 1999

Review of work of GM scientist

A SCIENTIFIC team has been appointed to investigate the work of Dr Arpad Pusztai, whose findings triggered a furore over genetically modified (GM) food.

The Royal Society has asked six of the countrys leading scientists to review the data that led Dr Pusztai to warn that people who eat GM food are “unwitting guinea pigs in a mass experiment”.

Last August, the Rowett Institute in Aberdeen suspended Dr Pusztai after he claimed in a 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.

In February, 20 scientists signed a memorandum supporting him, citing new evidence.

• Scientist defends GM potato study, FWi, 09 March, 1999
• GM scientist faces select committee, FWi, 08 March, 1999
• Scientist Pusztai says GM worries are justified, FWi, 17 February, 1999
• Scandal of hidden GM food research, FWi, 12 February, 1999
• GM potato researcher suspended, FWi, 12 August, 1998
  

• The Independent 11/03/02/99 page 1