Katie’s #20 #CBR4 Review: Uncertain Peril by Claire Hope Cummings
Uncertain Peril: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Seeds is a manifesto strongly opposing our current use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). As someone pursuing a PhD in bioinformatics and generally comfortable with the idea of genetic engineering, I expected to be entirely unconvinced by the author’s arguments. In fact, I almost didn’t pick this book up at all, because I wasn’t sure I could read it objectively enough. However, I think avoiding reading books by author’s with viewpoints opposed to my own would seriously limit the amount I learn from this project. Surprisingly, I ended up agreeing with a lot of the author’s points, even though I was sometimes shocked by her completely one-sided rhetoric.
How cool to see this reviewed! I’m in your camp, as I’m also working on a PhD in genetics, so I would probably have rolled my eyes at this and kept walking. It was nice to see your measured responses in review.
Thanks! I worked hard to be objective on this one, so I’m glad to hear I managed alright