Mark Lynas was at it again in an opinion piece in The New York Times last week, making claims once more about a so-called “worldwide scientific consensus on the safety of genetic engineering,” and calling those 17 countries in Europe that have announced bans on the cultivation of genetically engineered (GE) crops, the “Coalition of the Ignorant.”

But it is Lynas who appears to be ignorant of the fact that, as I explain in my letter to the editor published in today’s Times, genetic engineering is a technology and technologies are only as safe as they are used, each time they are used.

Therefore, suggesting that there is a scientific consensus “on the safety of genetic engineering” generally, or on “the products of crop genetic engineering technology” en masse is not only not scientific, it is illogical.

All of the products of the technology of genetic engineering should be assessed for safety on a case-by-case basis.