Text of an SGR letter sent to the Prime Minister, The Right Honourable Tony Blair, MP, on 6 November 2003

The letter from Scientists for Global Responsibility (SGR) argues that genetic modification of crops is driven by corporate profit and lacks sufficient safety evidence. SGR claims that the UK government is overly supportive of the GM industry and ignores scientific warnings about environmental damage and health risks, such as the creation of superweeds and gene transfer in the human gut.

• SGR asserts that genetic modification of crops was introduced by multinational corporations to generate profits and control the food chain, noting that the technology was deployed in the US without clear communication about its nature.
• The document alleges that the UK government and its regulatory bodies are biased toward the GM industry, citing the appointment of a Science Minister with vested interests and the presence of pro-GM members in advisory bodies.
• SGR identifies several adverse effects of genetic engineering, including the emergence of herbicide-resistant superweeds in Canada, the spread of GM genes to wild plants in the UK, and the transfer of GM DNA to bacteria in the human gut.
• The letter argues that the long-term consequences of releasing GM crops into the environment and human bodies cannot be predicted because scientific models fail to capture the complexities of the natural world.

APA

Novotny, E., Parkinson, S., & Webber, P. (2003). Text of an SGR letter sent to the Prime Minister, The Right Honourable Tony Blair, MP, on 6 November 2003. Scientists for Global Responsibility. https://www.sgr.org.uk/resources/letter-prime-minister-re-114-biotechnology-scientists

Chicago

Novotny, Eva, Stuart Parkinson, and Philip Webber. Text of an SGR letter sent to the Prime Minister, The Right Honourable Tony Blair, MP, on 6 November 2003. Scientists for Global Responsibility, 2003. https://www.sgr.org.uk/resources/letter-prime-minister-re-114-biotechnology-scientists.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Novotny |first1=Eva |last2=Parkinson |first2=Stuart |last3=Webber |first3=Philip |title=Text of an SGR letter sent to the Prime Minister, The Right Honourable Tony Blair, MP, on 6 November 2003 |publisher=Scientists for Global Responsibility |date=6 November 2003 |url=https://www.sgr.org.uk/resources/letter-prime-minister-re-114-biotechnology-scientists |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{novotny2003text, author = {Novotny, Eva and Parkinson, Stuart and Webber, Philip}, title = {{Text of an SGR letter sent to the Prime Minister, The Right Honourable Tony Blair, MP, on 6 November 2003}}, publisher = {Scientists for Global Responsibility}, year = {2003}, month = nov, url = {https://www.sgr.org.uk/resources/letter-prime-minister-re-114-biotechnology-scientists}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }