Australasian Biotechnology (backfiles) AusBiotech ISSN: 1036-7128 Vol. 11, Num. 5, 2001, pp. 5

Australasian Biotechnology, Vol. 11 No. 5, 2001, pp. 5

From the Editor

David Tribe, Acting Editor

Code Number: au01063

One really special item came across my desk while I was editing this issue, and I felt that I simply have to highlight this particular item for readers interested in the beneficial effects of technology. It is a newly published book celebrating the memory of economist Julian Simon, who in 1980 famously placed a bet with environmental pessimists about prices of raw materials. Simon had offered at that time to bet $10,000 that the price of any raw material picked by his intellectual opponents would fall in value over any period longer than a year. In 1990 Simon won his bet when, not only did the value of a total basket of raw materials fall in real terms, but each individual item on a list including copper, nickel, tin, and tungsten - had in real terms fallen in price.

The book in question is The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World by Bjorn Lomborg, published 2001 by Cambridge University Press. It is a must read for anyone seriously interested in the ongoing debate about the social impacts of biotechnology, and especially the issues posed by GM-crops.

Lomborg’s message is quite simple, but documented exhaustively in the book. The past 400 years have bought us fantastic and continued progress. We have more leisure time, greater security, fewer accidents, more education, more amenities, higher incomes, fewer starving people, more food, and healthier and longer lives. We have, however, been misled by the news media and many vocal pessimists to believe exactly the opposite, by what Lomborg calls ‘The Great Fable of the Litany’. Lomberg spends some 500 plus pages demonstrating that this pessimistic Litany of environmental and social crisis is almost exclusively based on myths, many of which are endlessly propagated by well-meaning, compassionate people.

In his final chapter Lomberg offers a route away from the paralyzing fear created by endless repetition of The Litany. We must prioritise risks, as we simply do not have the unlimited resources need to avoid all risk. We must also, as a community, get used to the idea that all decisions are in reality, a trade-off between various risks.

Please read and enjoy the book if you want to retain your optimism about the value of technology. And, if you hope for a beautiful future, draw the book to the attention of any pathological pessimists you know. It leaves both Limits to Growth and Earth in the Balance in the dust, where they belong.

The current flood of the news releases coming through the editor’s desk at Australasian Biotechnology wonderfully illustrates the generally buoyant state of the industry, and we take much pleasure in presenting a selection of these briefings in this issue of the journal. Such a healthy signal of commercial activity - along with the other signals of growth in interest, investment, commercial links, and technology development, which come from virtually all the geographical regions - augers well for continuing expansion of our industry. For that reason, it has been especially enjoyable for me to briefly take over from our regular Editor, Martin Playne, while he is on leave.

Copyright 2001 - AusBiotech