What are some credible sources about GMO?

Expert response from Kevin Folta

Professor and Chairman, Horticultural Sciences Department, University of Florida

Thursday, 06/11/2014 15:04

There are two general ways to think about this. 
 
First, the peer-reviewed literature is best, and the gold standard is reproducible studies that align to form a scientific consensus. These works can be found in the GENERA database at www.biofortified.org. Alternatively, quality papers can be found on Google Scholar. PubMed raises the bar by listing only papers that come from journals that meet certain quality criteria. Personally, I start with PubMed. 
 
That's not to say that that everything must align with a consensus to be considered. Papers that break the rules are important to think about, too, but remember the old adage that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. So far, these one-off rule breakers don't hold as credible findings, as they are in journals not listed on PubMed, and as time goes on, they die as lone papers without follow-up. Personally, I love the rule breakers and always hope they'll change the paradigm — that would give us more to study! 
 
While the primary literature is the best information, the peer-reviewed literature is dense and can be challenging to interpret. To understand what it really means, we have to rely on experts who often distill peer-reviewed findings for nonscientific audiences. 

For years, these interpretations could be found on scattered science blogs or science websites but had no unified home. Not to toot the horn of GMO Answers, but this is the exciting function of this website for public scientists like me. Now, when we take the time to review scientific literature and form an unbiased interpretation for general audiences, there's actually a place to put it where it might be found. 
 
The best advice is to look at all evidence critically. Look at the numbers of samples, the design of the experiment and the conclusions drawn from the data. Look at the quality, reputation and visibility of the journal — that means a lot. If you're not good at this or don't understand the data, connect with a biology faculty member at a local college or university. We're here to help you and can guide your understanding of complex literature.