I am currently working towards my Ph.D in entomology, and I have several connections with industry. I will doubtless work for a company such as Monsanto or Dow when I graduate. To make a long story short, you're completely wrong. I also do not appreciate the implications that I or any of my peers are Nazis or should be assassinated.
The monarch butterfly study was flawed in many ways; the pollen collection method was sloppy, for example. I've personally met the entomologists that were instrumental in rebutting that particular piece of work, and it is one of the most talked about papers because it is both so terrible and caused such controversy among the general population.
80% of agricultural research in this country takes place in private industry. And I'm not certain why you think the genetics research that goes on in a university or government organization is any different than the research that goes on in industry setting. As scientists we are trained in universities and then apply that knowledge in industry or the USDA, after all.
Of course people are doing this for profit. I realize this is shocking to you, but scientists also need to eat food and pay their rent. Most of us do the work we do because we see a need and we are interested in it. But that doesn't mean we don't have bills to pay.
Plenty of crops already produce sterile fruit. What do you think seedless grapes are? The fact of the matter is that all of our crops have been engineered - genetic tools simply make the process faster and allow a wider selection of genes than those found within the plant population.
Oh, and the last I heard the attempt to produce mosquitoes that do not vector malaria is failing.
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I am currently working towards my Ph.D in entomology, and I have several connections with industry. I will doubtless work for a company such as Monsanto or Dow when I graduate. To make a long story short, you're completely wrong. I also do not appreciate the implications that I or any of my peers are Nazis or should be assassinated. The monarch butterfly study was flawed in many ways; the pollen collection method was sloppy, for example. I've personally met the entomologists that were instrumental in rebutting that particular piece of work, and it is one of the most talked about papers because it is both so terrible and caused such controversy among the general population. 80% of agricultural research in this country takes place in private industry. And I'm not certain why you think the genetics research that goes on in a university or government organization is any different than the research that goes on in industry setting. As scientists we are trained in universities and then apply that knowledge in industry or the USDA, after all. Of course people are doing this for profit. I realize this is shocking to you, but scientists also need to eat food and pay their rent. Most of us do the work we do because we see a need and we are interested in it. But that doesn't mean we don't have bills to pay. Plenty of crops already produce sterile fruit. What do you think seedless grapes are? The fact of the matter is that all of our crops have been engineered - genetic tools simply make the process faster and allow a wider selection of genes than those found within the plant population. Oh, and the last I heard the attempt to produce mosquitoes that do not vector malaria is failing.