'Lord Robert Winston should "get his science right." It is incredibly sad that [he]... defends such outrageous falsehoods. There is little wonder that trust in science has collapsed.' (item 1)

A new report 'wrong-foots leading scientists such as the fertility expert Lord Winston... who accused the prince of raising "science scares" and of being "a classic woolly thinker".' (item 2)

"We have to accept we don't own the science. One of the most difficult problems is to hand back the science to society and allow the public to take some very uncomfortable decisions." - Lord Robert winston (item 3)

Human fertility expert and TV scientist, Lord Robert Winston seems to be a bit of a loose canon. He has been a repeated critic of the Prince of Wales over GM and nanotechnology and was a signatory to the Sense About Science letter to Blair calling for more government support for GM crops. But then he surprised everyone by saying he regretted having signed the letter and that there was a danger of science being used to deny uncertainties and of scientists following the money rather than engaging in a genuine dialogue over controversial scientific issues.

Here's part of what Winston said in the House of Lords:

"...we must recognise that science is not certain. The problem is that the Government and Ministers want black and white, another reason for our being wary of being too much in the government pocket. We must also avoid exaggeration and over-confidence. Ministers want that, and we are too ready to ascribe to it, because funds may chase that exaggeration, but we should be very wary. With all due respect to my friend the noble Lord, Lord Taverne [Chairman of Sense About Science], in some ways I regret signing the letter about genetically modified foods because, as scientists, we showed a degree of arrogance and a failure to recognise that we need to indulge in much greater dialogue. Another reason to be careful of government is that, above all, we must beware of commercial concerns, which increasingly drive science."
from Science and Politics - Debate in House of Lords 9 December 2003. Full debate:
http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=1869

But during a recent tour of New Zealand, the scientist who warned against over-confidence, exaggeration and a black and white denial of uncertainty has been telling his audience:

"we've been using nuclear power with *complete safety* for 50 years"
and
"There's *not the slightest evidence* that GM food is dangerous". (emphasis added)

Clearly not a man for half measures, the scientist who has called for the decisions about controversial technological developments to be handed back to the public (see item 3) has also argued that transgenic humans are absolutely "inevitable". ("Genetically Modified Babies Inevitable", East Cape News, February 3, 2000)
http://ngin.tripod.com/gmhuman.htm

1.Lord Robert Winston should get his science right.
2.Scientists support Prince on nanotech
3.Critics lambast Winston's ideas
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1.Lord Robert Winston should "get his science right"

Lord Robert Winston's talk to NZ politicians
Opinion: Dr Robert Anderson
SCOOP, 27 July 2004
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/SC0407/S00037.htm

Astonishment is the only comment one could make at the recent report of Dr Robert Winston's talk to New Zealand politicians parliamentary guests. Invited obviously as a "safe" bet by the Royal Society, reading his opinions and remarks regarding such topics as nuclear energy, genetically engineered foods, and trust in the scientific process, one wonders if they belong to the personable scientist that we have all come to enjoy in his The Human Body series.

Considered by many to be one of the world's finest science communicators, it is also reported that "Winston is scrupulous about getting his science right" and his comment that "there is a massive crisis in the Western world because of the way science and scientists are not trusted by the public,"[i] only serves to reinforce the astonishment.

First, take his unbelievably naive remark, "that we've been using nuclear power with complete safety for 50 years." Quite apart from the Chernobyl disaster which killed tens of thousands and crippled many more, or the narrowly averted melt-down at Three Mile Island, I have before me a calendar[ii] of - not yearly, nor even monthly but - daily accidents in the virtually world-wide nuclear power industry. One also wonders if he is familiar with the latest environmental pollution figures, from the vast nuclear waste storage containers, as leakage occurs into ground water and surrounding soils.

Dr Winston's other remark - equally flabbergasting - was, "There's not the slightest evidence that GM food is dangerous[iii]," and that moreover he thinks the New Zealand stance on the issue was "bizarre.[iv]" He may well have expertise in human fertility matters, but he is certainly not an expert in every field of genetics. How can he make the statement that, "There's not the slightest evidence that GM food is dangerous?" An enormous number of eminent scientists making up the Union of Concerned Scientists, PSRG[v], and the UK Independent Science Panel,[vi] among others, have all condemned it as untested and dangerous, quite apart from exposing fatal flaws in the regulatory process.

Only recently, the French newspaper[vii] La Monde, revealed secret documents showing health impacts of GM corn described as "very disturbing" by French scientists. These included kidney malformations, increases in white blood cells in male rats and high blood sugar and reduced immature red blood cells in female rats. Last year, up to 100 Philippine villagers suffered debilitating illnesses when nearby GE corn came into flower.[viii] Professor Terje Traavik [ix] found antibodies produced by the GM corn in the blood of 39 villagers.[x] Reports have come in of the same illnesses this year.[xi]

Dr Winston's statement that field trials "have been reassuring" is also questionable. The findings on Bt-toxins in GM corn have been completely ignored in a regulatory process that can only be described as a sham.[xii] Furthermore, while "we digest DNA every time we eat," that is not the concern; it is the bits of virus and bacteria cobbled together with the introduced DNA in order to get it there that worries so many scientists. From the first failures of GM food, the FlavrSavr tomato causing lesions in the stomach of rats which ate them,[xiii] GE crops have had a dismal history of failure. Dr Winston should also talk to the few survivors still crippled and dying from eating the genetically engineered food supplement, tryptophan, and who are still fighting for compensation.

Lord Robert Winston should "get his science right." It is incredibly sad that one whose image is, ostensibly, held in high regard by the listening public, defends such outrageous falsehoods. There is little wonder that trust in science has collapsed. It will take a great deal of work and dedication to bring it back.

[i] "Lord of the genes" The Listener July 31 2004

[ii] http://archive.greenpeace.org/comms/nukes/chernob/rep02.html

[iii] "Lord of the genes" The Listener July 31 2004

[iv] "Lord of the genes" The Listener July 31 2004

[v] www.psrg.org.nz

[vi] "Scientists Call for Enquiry into GM Food Safety" http://www.indsp.org/ISPenquiry.php

[vii] "French experts very disturbed by health effects of Monsanto GM corn" www.gmwatch.org 23 April 2004

[viii] "Filipino islanders blame GM crop for mystery sickness. Monsanto denies scientist's claim that maize may have caused 100 villagers to fall ill" John Aglionby in Kalyong, southern Philippines, The Guardian, Wednesday 3 March 3, 2004 http://www.guardian.co.uk