Wuhan, China
December 21, 2010
A growing perception that the Chinese public is uneasy about genetically modified (GM) crops has led to a roundtable dialogue on GM crops between scientists and the general public.
Scientists who participated in the dialogue — held on the sidelines of the Communication and Dialogue of Agribiotech Symposium at Huazhong Agricultural University in October — said it was the first time they had been made aware of the extent of the public's fears.
Public opposition to GM crops has been growing since the Ministry of Agriculture issued safety certificates for two kinds of GM rice and one type of GM maize in November 2009. Local media reports following the ministry's decision were especially concerned with the unknown health effects of GM crops.
The dialogue was set up by Jia Hepeng, organiser of the symposium and editor of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' (CAS) bi-weekly magazine Science News, to address some of the questions that delegates had been raising during the symposium.
One delegate was concerned after watching a US television programme that mentioned a child who had died apparently after consuming food containing GM maize. Another mentioned a Chinese news story that reported that Yuan Longping — regarded as the 'father of hybrid rice' in China — had said there was a chance that GM rice could be harmful to health.
Yang Xiaoguang, a researcher at the Chinese National Institute of Nutrition and Food Safety, said that such media reports were partly to blame for the public's fears.
Another scientist, Zhu Zhen, at the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of CAS said he did not believe the conclusions of the television programme. "If such serious things were happening [GM] would be forbidden by the US Food and Drug Administration and the repercussions would be very serious."
Zhu added that there was no such thing as absolute food safety and that even potatoes and haricot beans, for example, contained certain toxins.
He said that while scientists answered each question carefully at the dialogue, it was "impossible" to answer the public's concerns after just one event and called for more events where the public and scientists could meet and have an open dialogue.
"This kind of communication is very important for us," said Zhu. "We would like to open the door to the general public."
Jia said that he plans to promote more dialogue on GM among scientists, media and the public.
科学家们惊诧, 中国的转基因之争走向公众
中国公众对转基因(GM)粮食的担忧与日俱增，由此就转基因粮食这个话题举办了一场科学家与公众间的圆桌对话。
本次对话是在10月份在华中农业大学的“生物技术与现代农业科普与传播研讨会”期间举办的，参加此次对话的科学家们表示，这是他们第一次意识到公众的恐惧到了怎么样的一种程度。
本次对话是由研讨会的组织者贾鹤鹏安排的，他还是中国科学院《科学新闻》杂志的主编，通过这次对话强调了一些研讨会中参会代表们提出的一些问题。
一位代表表示，他看过的一个美国电视节目，节目中提到一个孩子明显是吃过含有转基因玉米的食物后死亡了。另一位代表提到中国的一则报道袁隆平的新闻故事——袁隆平在中国被誉为“杂交水稻之父”——报道中袁隆平表示，转基因水稻可能会危害健康，这是个挑战。
中国疾控中心营养与食品安全所的研究员杨晓光表示，
媒体如此报道部分归咎于公众的恐惧。
另一位科学家，来自中国科学院遗传与发育生物学研究所的朱桢表示，他根本不相信电视节目作出的结论。“如果[转基因]问题真的已经严重到了如此地步，那早被美国食品及药物管理局禁了，而且将非常严重。”
朱桢还补充道，现实生活中根本就没有绝对安全的食品，比如马铃薯和扁豆，也含着某些毒素。
他表示，尽管科学家们在对话上认真的回答每一个的问题，但一次活动“不可能”回答公众所关心的所有问题，他还呼吁以后应当多举行这样的活动，公众和科学家们可以面对面地公开地进行交流。
“这种交流对我们来说非常重要，”朱桢表示。“我们很愿意对公众敞开大门。”
贾鹤鹏表示，他计划举办更多对话，促进科学家、媒体和公众的交流。
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