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The monarch butterfly controversy: scientific interpretations of a phenomenon
Author(s) -
Shelton Anthony M.,
Sears Mark K.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
the plant journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.058
H-Index - 269
eISSN - 1365-313X
pISSN - 0960-7412
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-313x.2001.01118.x
Subject(s) - monarch butterfly , phenomenon , bacillus thuringiensis , political science , environmental ethics , biology , ecology , epistemology , philosophy , genetics , bacteria
Summary The future development and use of agricultural biotechnology has been challenged by two preliminary studies indicating potential risk to monarch butterfly populations by pollen from corn engineered to express proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis . Likewise, these studies have also challenged the way in which science should be performed, published in scientific journals and communicated to the public at large. Herein, we provide a history of the monarch controversy to date. We believe a retrospective view may be useful for providing insights into the proper roles and responsibilities of scientists, the media and public agencies and the consequences when they go awry.