Neil deGrasse Tyson, his brain, and his TV special “COSMOS: A Spacetime Odyssey’ are all household names. (His Big Bang Theory cameo didn’t hurt him either!) However, you might not be aware of his infamous rant about GMO’s in the summer of 2014.
Check out his response to a French journalist’s question, below:
Instead of being his usual charming self, he was decidedly more defiant, rude and authoritative as he lashed out at people who question the safety of GMOs.
However, what Tyson was referring to in the clip was traditional breeding and hybridization techniques- nothing close to the process of genetically modifying food today.
Following the original video Tyson responded via Facebook, once again saying there was “no inherent risk” unique to GMO’s when compared to traditional ag:1
However, Jeffrey M. Smith, a researcher, author, and filmmaker who produced ‘Genetic Roulette,’ felt he was still missing the point and made his own response video. Smith was respectful and acknowledged that Tyson is a “great scientist in his field,” but went on to point to evidence from former FDA compliance officer Dr. Linda Khal that sheds an awful lot of truth on the flawed basis of Tyson’s argument:2
Part two:
