Known Unknowns: The Problem with GMO Research - A Presentation by Glenn Davis Stone, Thursday, September 29, 2011
Glenn Davis Stone is an anthropologist who studies the ecological, political, and cultural aspects of small farmers. His major research efforts have involved population, conflict, and the organization of production in Nigeria, and agricultural biotechnology in India. He is the incoming president of Anthropology & Environment, and Professor of Anthropology and Environmental Studies at Washington University, St. Louis. Prof. Stone's talk is organized in conjunction with the Institute for Advanced Study's interdisciplinary facultry seminar, "Talking Over Food: Abundance and Scarcity in the 21st Century," and is part of the University Symposium on Abundance and Scarcity.
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Although debates over genetically modified (GM) crops involve a wide range of societal issues, in some cases simple agronomic questions like yield advantage of a specific crop can take on great significance. This is particularly true of Bt cotton in India, which is a singularly important GM crop for small farmers and which remains highly controversial. Attempts by most analysts to isolate the impact of the transgenic trait have been mired in problems, and contradictory narratives have been widely accepted. Long-term ethnographic research can help to illuminate the impacts of Bt cotton, but this pivotal case ultimately has much to teach us about what we simply do not know.
During his visit, Professor Stone provided an interview with the Bat of Minerva.