“A group of more than 100 Nobel Laureates have publicly declared Greenpeace’s anti-GMO campaign a crime against humanity,” says Allison Gilbert in this week’s Acton Commentary. “These men and women say the science is clear — the world needs GMOs, and objecting to the production of genetically modified foods both denies scientific evidence and exacerbates the suffering of the world’s poor.”

“We call upon Greenpeace to cease and desist in its campaign against Golden Rice specifically, and crops and foods improved through biotechnology in general,” the laureates write.

Richard Roberts, the molecular biologist who spearheaded the campaign, said that mankind has been modifying food for centuries, and modern GMOs are only a continuation of this process. The letter urged Greenpeace to “re-examine the experience of farmers and consumers worldwide” to recognize that biotechnology is safely improving seeds, crops and farming’s environmental impact.

The full text of the essay can be found here. Subscribe to the free, weekly Acton News & Commentary and other publications here.