My original post was in response to the following question put to the list:
"What are the specific, demonstrable facts which warrant objection to BST?"
My response was intended to address this question, i.e. to list and
describe the objections that have been published in various journals,
books, and newsletters collected here in the center or in the library as
a whole. I was not attempting to provide an overview of the arguments for
and against the use of BST. *I discussed only the arguments against it,
because that was the information requested.*
I attempted to clarify the issue by pointing out that, aside from the
facts (or, more accurately, data) involved, there are speculative and
ethical elements to this debate which do not lend themselves well to
certainty or purely objective assessment.
I offer my apologies to anyone who felt personally offended by anything
included in my postings. This was certainly not my intention. All points
I discussed came from the public domain, and do not necessarily reflect the
opinions of the BIC staff or USDA.
The purpose of the BIC is to gather and disseminate, as far as
possible, complete, balanced information about all aspects of agricultural
biotechnology. To this end, NUMEROUS publications are regularly reviewed
(anyone desiring a list can send me a message), several electronic
lists such as this one are monitored, and, periodically, for preparation
of topical bibliographies or in response to a specific query, the
library's database, AGRICOLA (combination catalog and index), is searched.
Comprehensiveness is our goal. As part of a publically funded library, it
would be inappropriate for our center to ignore (censor) any literature simply
because it happens to reflect a particular point of view.
I have just completed a search of AGRICOLA on BST, which updates the
bibliography currently available on this topic. Anyone interested in
receiving a copy of these citations can send a message to:
biotech@nalusda.gov
Lara Wiggert
BIC, Natl. Ag. Library