Annotated Bibliography Entry

Reference: Vatican 2001
Title: Science and the Future of Mankind: Science for Man and Man for Science - The Proceedings of the Preparatory Session 12-14 November 1999 and the Jubilee Plenary Session 10-13 November 2000
Authors: The Pontifical Academy of Sciences
Publisher: The Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Vatican City, Casina Pio IV, 00120 Vatican City
Publication details: Pontificia Academia Scientiarvm, Vatican City. 2001. 526p.

Summary
Background to the Study Document on the The Use of Genetically Modified Food Plants
Recommendations
Annex

 

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Summary

This volume contains the proceedings of two meetings of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences: the working group of 12-14 November 1999 on Science for man and man for science and the Jubilee Plenary Session of 10-13 November 2000 on Science and the future of mankind. 

The Pontifical Academy of Sciences believes that we must explore the ways in which science can help in developing and promoting the specifically human dimension of man, society, and the environment. At the same time, the Academy believes that we should also discuss the ways in which, in certain situations, science can be responsible for a decline in the quality of life and damage done to the environment.  Another important facet, ‘man for science’, involves identifying the impact of recent scientific discoveries and advances on our vision of man, both directly and indirectly.

The Academy looks at the consequences for mankind of the rapid development of scientific knowledge and the resulting swift increase in technical capabilities. Recently, in ‘Fides et Ratio’, The Holy Father, John Paul II urged all scientists never to lose sight of the ‘sapiential dimension’, where technical prowess must be matched by respect for the ethical imperative to protect human life and dignity.

Over the years the Academy has met many times to discuss the difficulties and problems which third-world countries encounter in their development: food and agriculture, health, energy and water, industry and the dangers which derive from its often unsupervised development, and the ways in which the application of scientific knowledge can help to solve such difficulties and problems.

The Academy has also addressed itself to the dangers that the unwise use of technology can represent for our planet and mankind as a whole, but has at the same time considered the ways in which scientific progress can best be used to defend humanity against actual and potential dangers, both natural and man-made, and to meet its more urgent needs.

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Study Document on The Use of 'Genetically Modified Food Plants' to Combat Hunger in the World

In 1999, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences initiated a study on genetically modified plants, in response to the concerns expressed by many Academicians at the way in which recent scientific results, and in particular those relating to genetically improved plant varieties, have been presented to the public. The Academy commissioned some of its members to prepare a study document on The Use of Genetically Modified Food Plants to Combat Hunger in the World. These Proceedings include the study document and the results of its subsequent discussion and recommendations by the Pontifical Academy.  

The document expresses the concerns of the scientific community about the sustainability of present agricultural practices and the certainty that new techniques will be effective. At the same time, it stresses the need for the utmost care in the assessment and evaluation of the consequences of each possible modification.  The document also expresses concern about excesses with regard to the establishment of ‘intellectual property’ rights in relation to widely used crops – excesses which could be detrimental to the interests of developing nations. A further recommendation is that the examination of the safety of newly developed cultivars should be based on well-documented methods and that the methods and results should be openly discussed and scrutinised by the scientific community.

The Academy will examine in depth many issues which are raised in the study document and which are of special concern: the methods used in the testing and licensing of the new cultivars; the comparative risks associated with different methods of pest control; and the many scientific, ethical and social issues raised by the introduction of a new and powerful technology directed towards agricultural improvement.  

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Recommendations

The Challenge

1. The rapid growth of the world population requires the development of new technologies to feed people adequately; even now, an eighth of the world’s people go to bed hungry. The genetic modification of food plants can help meet part of this challenge.

2. Agriculture as it is currently practiced is unsustainable, as is indicated by the massive losses of topsoil and agricultural land that have occurred over the past few decades, as well as by the unacceptable consequences of massive applications of pesticides and herbicides throughout most of the world. Techniques to genetically modify crop plants can make important contributions to the solution of this common problem.

The Potential of Genetically Modified Food Plants

3. Virtually, all food plants have been genetically modified in the past; such a modification is, therefore, a very common procedure.

4. The cellular machinery of all living organisms is similar, and the mixing of genetic material from different sources within one organism has been an important part of the evolutionary process.

5. In recent years, a new technology has been developed for making more precise and specific improvements in strains of agricultural plants, involving small, site-directed alterations in the genome sequence or sometimes the transfer of specific genes from one organism to another.

6. Genetically modified food plants can play an important role in improving nutrition and agricultural products, especially in the developing world.

Conditions for the Beneficial Use of this New Technology

7. The scientific community should be responsible for the scientific and technological research leading to the advances described above, but it must also monitor the way it is applied and help ensure that it works to the effective benefit of people.

8. There is nothing intrinsic about genetic modification that would cause food products to be unsafe. Nevertheless, science and scientists are - and should further be – employed to test the new strains of plants to determine whether they are safe for people and the environment, especially considering that current advances can now induce more rapid changes than was the case in the past.

9. The methods used for testing the safety of new genetically modified strains (or more precisely, cultivars) of plants should be publicly available, as should the results of these tests, in both the private and public sectors.

10. Governments should have the responsibility for ensuring that the tests and their results are conducted in line with the highest criteria of validity. The protocols of evaluation should be made widely accessible.

11. Governments should increase their funding for public research in agriculture in order to facilitate the development of sustainable and productive agricultural systems available to everyone.

12. Intellectual property rights should not inhibit a wide access to beneficial applications of scientific knowledge. In the development of this modern genetic technology for agriculture, efforts should be made to facilitate cooperation between the public and private sectors and to secure the promotion of solidarity between the industrialised and developing worlds.

13. Special efforts should be made to provide poor farmers in the developing world with access to improved crop plants and to encourage and finance research in developing countries. At the same time, means should be found to create incentives for the production of strains suitable to the needs of developing countries.

14. Research to develop such improvements should pay particular attention to local needs and to the capacity of each country to engage in a necessary adaptation of its traditions, social heritage, and administrative practices in order to achieve the success of the introduction of genetically modified food plants.

Recommendation for the Scientific Community

15. In order to help governments, state-funded researchers, and private companies to meet the above conditions, and in order to facilitate the development of common standards and approaches to this problem in both developing and industrial countries, the scientific community, represented by its established worldwide umbrella organisations, should offer its expertise. A suitably composed international scientific advisory committee could be entrusted with this all-important task.

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Go to Annex Summary of Study Document on The Use of Genetically Modified Food Plants to Combat Hunger in the World

Web site: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_academies/acdscien/