The Frankenfood Myth: How Protest and Politics Threaten the Biotech Revolution (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Gregory Conko (Author) "IMAGINE A SITUATION in which an impoverished developing country suffering severe food shortages in the midst of a years-long drought receives food aid shipments of..." (more)
Key Phrases: spliced crops, spliced organisms, traceability rules, United States, European Union, New Zealand (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Miller and Conko present a timely treatise on how inappropriate and unscientific regulations are stifling biotechnology as it relates to the food industry. They argue that the costs of kowtowing to all current regulations have caused a potentially dangerous curtailment of new research at universities and small biotech businesses. Numerous examples are provided to show how the misinformed--press, responsible government agencies, and big business--have joined forces to limit, singularly, the use of genetic engineering to improve plant performance....An important book, well suited to university courses dealing with science history or policy, as well as to food policy makers. Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals.”–Choice

“[T]hought-provoking.”–Nature Biotechnology

“The strength of this book is that the authors of The Frankenfood Myth are clearly very knowledgeable in the area of policy and regulation as it relates to gene-spliced crops. Their extensive historical treatment of regulation and risk assessment in the USA is especially good reading.”–Crop Science

“This book provides a fascinating insight into the chasm between hard-science and consumer foodism, and how to 'build bridges' between these sectors ... Whatever your views on GM foods, this book will move you to want to know more.”–Dietetics Today

“The book is valuable in a number or ways: it is readable and well referenced so all readers have an opportunity both to read the original claims and to follow later developments. It is a helpful summary of much that has happened in this field over the past ten years. It argues passionately for a simpler view of regulation and that voice should be heard as society scrambles to over-regulate almost everything in sight without considering the cost....[f]ull marks to Miller and Conko whou put their view so well; read the book and think about it, to see if we can get a more level playing field about regulation versus risk.”–Journal of Commercial Biotechnology

“For those who cannot wait for Crichton to novelise the genetic revolution, and are interested in understanding the reasons agricultural biotechnology has not lived up to its potential and what policies are needed to change that, we join Barron's in recommending Henry Miller and Gregory Conko's The Frankenfood Myth.”–Regulation Magazine

“[A] new book that questions the wisdom of current gene-splicing regulations.”–Townhall.com

“[S]erves as a fascinating study in how bad science and intellectual perfidy can so easily hijack government response to an issue. Miller and Conko add a solemn - and quite disheartening - reminder that the wealthy nations of the world will not be the ones to suffer the most from regulatory crush. Those at the margins of development, where an increase in crop yield or a decrease in pest damage could mean surplus instead of subsistence, or survival instead of starvation, will likely feel the greatest impact of GM agriculture. The unjustifiable obstruction of this humanitarian potential by so-called consumer advocates and environmental activists makes these well-fed protestors appear utterly unconcerned about the troubles of the real world.”–The New York Times

“The authors show how foolish policies--premised on junk science, media sensationalism and the mixed motives of bureaucrats and corporations--are choking off a wonder-technology....[M]essrs. Miller and Conko urge those who know the truth about gene splicing to tell it--forcefully.”–The Wall Street Journal

“The heated debate over so-called Frankenfoods is not only about the pros and cons of genetically manipulating crops to improve their nutritional value and resistance to disease; it also concerns intellectual honesty. For years, activists opposed to the new science have been spreading unfounded and inaccurate horror stories, threatening to derail progress vitally needed to feed the world. The Frankenfood Myth by Henry Miller and Gregory Conko takes a long, hard look a both the new agricultural biotechnology and the policy debate surrounding it.”–Barron's

“[T]he book is perfect for policymakers....If the authors are correct--and they make a compelling case--then GM food phobes and regulators have made the world a poorer place. The losses could become even graver if GM food phobes continue to have their way....Great costs have already come from the myth that GM foods are unfit for consumption. "Frankenfoods" should have a place at the table of all who want them.”–The Washington Times

“[A]n important book.”–The Financial Times

“A fine look at all the issues involved, and the myths and realities of 'frankenfoods'.”–MBR Bookwatch

“Readers who care a lot about regulatory processes will unquestionably enjoy The Frankenfood Myth.”–New York Post

“Miller and Conko brilliantly expose the peril of allowing the precautionary principle to drive risk analysis and policymaking. Their thorough and articulate deconstruction of the precautionary principle should serve as a guide to developing regulatory policy, not only for biotechnology, but for any new idea or technology.”–Nick Smith, (R-MI), Chairman House Science Subcommittee on Research

“Misguided public policies have seriously restricted research on, and applications of, genetic engineering in agriculture. Miller and Conko analyze why and how this has occurred. They point out the danger that the present unwarranted regulatory oppression will become the norm, and they make a strong case for drastic change in present policies. Their call for policies based on realistic risk-benefit considerations needs to be heard loudly by those responsible for the present fiasco.”–Paul D. Boyer, Emeritus Professor University of California, Los Angeles, Co-Winner of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

“This volume simply eclipses anything else on the subject. Miller and Conko offer a masterful expose of the flaws in current public policy towards biotechnology, a lucid discussion of the reasons for them, and innovative proposals for essential reforms.”–Michael H. Mellon, Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics University of California, San Diego School of Medicine

“Miller and Conko describe biotech's potential to both alleviate human suffering and improve environmental stewardship, and they offer science-based models for regulation. This book can help us fight the short-sighted bureaucrats and emotion-driven activists. It's time for the rest of us to do our part--read the book, fight the power, and feed the people. The hard work is done; all we have left to do is get policy-makers to do the right thing.”–Penn Jillette

Product Description

Few topics have inspired as much international furor and misinformation as the development and distribution of genetically altered foods. For thousands of years, farmers have bred crops for their resistance to disease, productivity, and nutritional value; and over the past century, scientists have used increasingly more sophisticated methods for modifying them at the genetic level. But only since the 1970s have advances in biotechnology (or gene-splicing to be more precise) upped the ante, with the promise of dramatically improved agricultural products--and public resistance far out of synch with the potential risks. In this provocative and meticulously researched book, Henry Miller and Gregory Conko trace the origins of gene-splicing, its applications, and the backlash from consumer groups and government agencies against so-called "Frankenfoods"--from America to Zimbabwe. They explain how a "happy conspiracy" of anti-technology activism, bureaucratic over-reach, and business lobbying has resulted in a regulatory framework in which there is an inverse relationship between the degree of product risk and degree of regulatory scrutiny. The net result, they argue, is a combination of public confusion, political manipulation, ill-conceived regulation (from such agencies as the USDA, EPA, and FDA), and ultimately, the obstruction of one of the safest and most promising technologies ever developed--with profoundly negative consequences for the environment and starving people around the world. The authors go on to suggest a way to emerge from this morass, proposing a variety of business and policy reforms that can unlock the potential of this cutting-edge science, while ensuring appropriate safeguards and moving environmentally friendly products into the hands of farmers and consumers. This book is guaranteed to fuel the ongoing debate over the future of biotech and its cultural, economic, and political implications.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 296 pages
• Publisher: Praeger Publishers (August 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0275978796
• ISBN-13: 978-0275978792
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #420,206 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Some needed fresh air to lend to a stale debate, September 27, 2004

By	Occasional reviewer (East coast, US) - See all my reviews

Dr. Miller and Mr. Conko have done a tremendous service to all of those who care about intellectual honesty. This is a no-holds barred, gloves-off attack, not of the critics of biotechnology, but of the intellectual dishonesty and rampant hucksterism that passes for enlightened debate about issues of complexity nowadays.

Some readers will find the frank, prescriptive nature of some parts of the book unsettling. Good. That is precisely what is required today, to balance the gusher of not-so-frank, less than honest and dictatorial "information" and policy recommendations coming from the other side of the debate.

This book is long overdue, and I cannot recommend it more highly. Miller and Conko challenge you to disagree, and you should feel free to do so. Just make sure you have facts and empirically-based arguments, rather than vague principles in hand, before you venture forth.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comfort Food, October 10, 2004

By	Tuscany - See all my reviews

The authors do a masterful job of exposing the misapprehension -- spread by regulators and activists, and abetted by the media -- that "genetic modification" is untested, unproven or unregulated. In fact, it is none of these things, but rather is a more precise tool than earlier techniques that can be used to craft various, extraordinarily useful plants, microbes and animals. That is, it could be used for all these things if over-regulation and the objections of activists can be overcome.

The book is not a defense of biotechnology as much as it is a demand for public policy that is based on science and common sense. It is very readable and very persuasive.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Balance of Science and Nature for the Benefit of Mankind, September 13, 2004

By	Hiacynth Bouquet "Food Maven" (Orange, California) - See all my reviews

What a welcome prospective from such a distinguished duo! Extremely well written and informative. Anyone who loves food; is interested in distinguishisng myths of paranoia from scientific reality; and anyone who cares about feeding the starving populations of the world, will enjoy reading this book. It should be required reading for every member of the European Parliament. Their outdated and self-serving "Precautionary Principle" needs to be replaced by a more reasonable approach to GM foods.
Kudos to Dr. Miller and Mr. Conko for their pages of enlightenment!