Vatican conference on GM foods

Should be interesting... The Vatican hosted a two-day conference entitled "GMO: Threat or Hope" They have not published their findings as yet but this will be an interesting one to watch - the benefits of increased crop production and less labor required versus (as quoted in ABC news): bq. Two Jesuits told a Vatican biotech conference Tuesday that tinkering with God's creation by making new plant species went against church teaching, adding a moral voice to a debate dominated by scientific, political and economic interests. CBS reports: bq. The conference organizer, Cardinal Renato Martino, head of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, has spoken out frequently about the potential benefits of the technology, and some participants said his lineup of speakers was skewed toward the pro-biotech camp. CBS continues: bq. Martino opened the two-day conference "GMO: Threat or Hope" by acknowledging the charged nature of the debate, and the implications of genetically engineered products on the future of the world. bq. "We are fully aware that the stakes are high and delicate," he said, citing the divide in public opinion, the commercial interests and ethical questions involved, as well as "the difficulty in defining scientifically a material that is subject to evolving research." bq. But he said the Vatican's aim was to find some common ground for the benefit of mankind, and particularly the poor. The issue of poverty and hunger is a major concern for the Vatican, which rejects arguments that limiting family size by using contraception is one way to improve food security in the developing world. bq. Martino has suggested in newspaper interviews that the Vatican might consider endorsing biotech crops as a way to help alleviate hunger, arguing that the controversy was more political than scientific. He has said he suffered no ill effects from the GM foods he ate while living in New York as the Vatican's envoy to the United Nations for 16 years.