Well, this sucks, & that’s putting it mildly. From Kevin Folta’s blog, Illumination:
Dr Folta has been under constant attack in recent months since it emerged that Monsanto had donated $US25,000 to fund a science outreach program he was running. Not his research, but an outreach program. He was accused of a conflict of interest by those opposed to genetic modification (one of the topics covered in the program) & ended up returning the money. However that didn’t stop the attacks or the calls for his university to fire him. And so now there’s this: the possibility I touched on when I first wrote about this issue has become reality.
And yet it’s somehow OK, & not at all hypocritical (/snark) for anti-GMO speakers to demand tens of thousands of dollars in speaking fees to promote their message, or to pay similarly large amounts for research into eg organic farming.
On Code for Life, Grant Jacobs has a very thoughtful piece on GMO legislation. And that’s what we need from both sides of this question: careful rational thought, not anger.
2 Responses to “Silenced by the mob”
Those who want more reading on this might like to try Nature’s piece, Standing up for Science.
Yes, there are a number of researcher bloggers that find themselves under sustained attack.
https://theclimatefix.wordpress.com/2015/02/25/i-am-under-investigation/
It can be a risky business for an active researcher to blog. Why would any sane person submit themselves to the ugly vitriol that spills out on some scientific blogs?