The following article isn't posted in any way to mock the views of this particular scientist who, as the article notes, is "the primary inventor of the gene gun process" and whose "research has been used to engineer most of the world's transgenic crops."

Dr Sandford has a right to his own views but, given the way in which pro-GM lobbyists so frequently seek to discredit the many and varied members of the scientific community who raise concerns over GMOs by picking out those individuals whose views in one arena or another might be considered radical or unusual, it is amusing that one of the key figures in the development of genetic engineering should hold views that are so unorthodox.

GM advocates, incidentally, also fail to notice how many GM supporters are climate change sceptics - possibly because those attempting to smear critics of GM not infrequently fall into this category themselves! (see 'Why do the key GM advocates oppose Kyoto?') http://www.lobbywatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=5473

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Experts debunk evolution
BY CHARITY GORDON
Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, 15 July 2006
http://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=224002&pub=1&div=Lifestyles

STARKVILLE - "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," and 6,000 years later, according to a society at Mississippi State University, scientists will gather to prove it.

The Society for the Advancement of Creation Science, whose purpose is "to strengthen people's faith in the Creator and his Word," will hold its first lecture series July 17-20 at Dorman Hall Auditorium on MSU's campus. Worship starts at 6:30 each evening, and the lectures will begin at 7:30 p.m. The event is open to the public.

Dr. John Sanford, who will present the July 17 lecture, is the primary inventor of the gene gun process. His research has been used to engineer most of the world's transgenic crops.

"My talk will be for non-specialists," Sanford said. "I will show that evolutionary theory - mutation plus natural selection equals evolution - can be conclusively shown to be false."

In his lecture, Sanford will show that if the evolutionary theory were true, then humans would be degenerating, not evolving, as a species.

"Mutations cause genetic degeneration, and selection can slow, but cannot stop, this degenerative process," he said.

Sanford says as a Christian and a scientist he had dodged the question of evolution for a long time.

"I just avoided the issue in my head and imagined God created through evolution," he said.

Sanford says as he later considered the non-evolutionary perspective, examining the scientific evidence for creationism, he was impressed.

"Since then, I have seen rapidly growing evidence supporting the biblical view," he said. "Unfortunately, this evidence is largely suppressed through the media and schools so only the determined seekers find it."

Dr. Mark Horstemeyer, who holds a chair position in mechanical engineering at MSU, hopes the lecture series will help raise the next generation of Christian faculty members.

Upcoming scientists "can do research with a biblical frame of reference," Horstemeyer said, "in the same spirit as the great scientists Pascal, Kelvin, Faraday and Newton. A rational God created a rational universe. We've gotten away from that over the last 100 years or so."

The other lectures include "Thousands, Not Billions - Radioisotope Evidence for a Young World" July 18 by Dr. Russell Humphreys, a retired nuclear physicist; "Tectonic Catastrophe and the Geologic Record" July 19 by Dr. John Baumgardner, a retired Los Alamos geophysicist; and "Evidences for Recent Geological Catastrophe" July 20 by Dr. Steve Austin, a professor of geology at the Institute for Creation Research in Santee, Calif.

Appeared originally in the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, 7/15/2006 8:00:00 AM, section C , page 1

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