The research must go on - IFST supports Rothamstead scientists 21 May 2012

A protestor caused 'significant damage' to a GM wheat trial at Rothhamstead Research, after breaking into the centre's test site on Sunday. Scientists had been petitioning against protestors who had threatened the sites destruction on 27 May.

The Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) clearly supports scientific research in general. It has also previously stated that food scientists and technologists can play an important role in the responsible introduction of GM techniques provided that issues of product safety, environmental concerns, information and ethics are satisfactorily addressed.

IFST considers that they are being addressed and need even more intensively to continue to be so addressed. Information gleaned from research conducted by establishments such as Rothamsted provides the real opportunity to shed light on both the benefits and dangers associated with growing a particular strain of GM wheat. This is information that food industry professionals and others urgently need to establish to be able to make decisions on how to feed the world and to reduce our environmental impact.

Only in this way may the benefits that this technology can confer become available, not least to help feed the world's escalating population in the coming decades.

View IFST's information statement on Genetic Modification and Food