Steven M. Druker is a public interest attorney who, as executive
director of the Alliance for Bio-Integrity, initiated a lawsuit
that forced the FDA to divulge its files on genetically engineered
foods. This revealed that politically appointed administrators had
covered up the warnings of their own scientists about the unusual
risks of these foods and then allowed them to be marketed
illegally. In organizing the suit, he assembled an unprecedented
coalition of eminent scientists and religious leaders to stand with
his organization as co-plaintiffs - the first time scientists had
sued a federal administrative agency on the grounds that one of its
policies is scientifically unsound.
He is a prominent commentator on the risks of GE foods and has
served on the food safety panels at conferences held by the
National Research Council and the FDA, has given lectures at
numerous universities (including the Biological Laboratories at
Harvard), and has met with government officials throughout the
world, including the heads of food safety for France, Ireland, and
Australia. In 1998, he was invited to the White House Executive
Offices to discuss risks of GE crops with a task force of the
President's Council on Environmental Quality. His articles on GE
food have appeared in several respected publications, including The
Congressional Quarterly Researcher, The Parliament Magazine, and
The Financial Times. He earned his B.A. in philosophy at the
University of California, Berkeley (with high honors that included
a special award for "Outstanding Accomplishment") and received his
Juris Doctor from the same institution (and was elected to both the
Law Review and the legal honor society). in 2017 Steven was awarded
the Luxembourg Peace Prize for Environmental Peace.
“Without doubt, one of the most important books of the last 50
years. I shall urge everyone I know who cares about life on earth,
and the future of their children, and children’s children, to read
it. . . . Steven Druker is a hero. He deserves at least a Nobel
Prize.”--Jane Goodall, Ph.D. (from the Foreword)
“A fascinating book: highly informative, eminently readable, and
most enjoyable. It’s a real page-turner and an
eye-opener.”--Richard C. Jennings, Ph.D., Department of History and
Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge, UK
“This incisive and insightful book is truly outstanding. Not only
is it well-reasoned and scientifically solid, it's a pleasure to
read--and a must-read. Through its masterful marshalling of facts,
it dispels the cloud of disinformation that has misled people into
believing that GE foods have been adequately tested and don't
entail abnormal risk.” --David Schubert, Ph.D. molecular biologist
and Head of Cellular Neurobiology, Salk Institute for Biological
Studies
“Altered Genes, Twisted Truth is lucid, illuminating, and alarming.
As a former New York City prosecutor, I was shocked to discover how
the FDA illegally exempted GE foods from the rigorous testing
mandated by federal statute. And as the mother of three young kids,
I was outraged to learn how America’s children are being callously
exposed to experimental foods that were deemed abnormally risky by
the FDA’s own experts.”--Tara-Cook Littman, J.D.
“Steven Druker has written a great book that could well be a
milestone in the endeavor to establish a scientifically sound
policy on genetically engineered foods. The evidence is
comprehensive, clear, and compelling; and its credibility is
irrefutable. No one has documented other cases of irresponsible
behavior by government regulators and the scientific establishment
nearly as well as Druker documents this one. His book should be
widely read and thoroughly heeded.”--John Ikerd, Ph.D. Professor
Emeritus of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of
Missouri – Columbia
“Altered Genes, Twisted Truth will stand as a landmark. It should
be required reading in every university biology course.”--Joseph
Cummins, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus of Genetics, Western University,
London, Ontario
“Steven Druker's meticulously documented, well-crafted, and
spellbinding narrative should serve as a clarion call to all of us.
In particular, his chapter detailing the deadly epidemic of 1989-90
that was linked with a genetically engineered food supplement is
especially significant. I and my Mayo Clinic colleagues were active
participants in the attempt to identify the cause of this epidemic.
Druker provides a comprehensive analysis of all the evidence and
also presents new findings from our work. Overall his discussion of
this tragic event, as well as its ominous implications, is the most
comprehensive, evenlybalanced and accurate account that I have
read.”--Stephen Naylor, PhD CEO and Chairman of MaiHealth Inc.,
Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, & Pharmacology
Mayo Clinic (1991-2001)
“Steven Druker has done a beautiful job of weaving a compelling
scientific argument into an engaging narrative that often reads
like a detective story, and he makes his points dramatically and
clearly. The examination of genetic engineering from the standpoint
of software engineering is especially insightful, exposing how the
former is more like a ‘hackathon’ than a careful, systematic
methodology for revising complex information systems. I will
recommend this book to my friends.”--Thomas J. McCabe, developer of
the cyclomatic complexity software metric, a key analytic tool in
computer programming employed throughout the world
“Based on over 30 years of teaching computer science at
universities and on extensive experience as a programmer in private
industry, I can state that Steven Druker has done an excellent job
of demonstrating the recklessness of the current practices of
genetic engineering in comparison to the established practices of
software engineering. His book presents a striking contrast between
the two fields, showing how software engineers progressively
developed greater awareness of the inherent risks of altering
complex information systems – and accordingly developed more
rigorous procedures for managing them – while genetic technicians
have largely failed to do either, despite the fact that the
information systems they alter are far more complex, and far less
comprehended, than any human-made system.”--Ralph Bunker, PhD
“Steven Druker has written one of the few books I have encountered,
in my many years of public interest work, with the capacity to
drive major change in a major issue. What Ralph Nader’s Unsafe at
Any Speed was to the auto industry and what Rachel Carson’s Silent
Spring was to synthetic pesticides, Altered Genes, Twisted Truth
will be to genetically engineered food. It is profoundly
penetrating, illuminating, and compelling, and it could stimulate a
monumental and beneficial shift in our system of food
production.”--Joan Levin, JD, MPH
“Altered Genes, Twisted Truth is a remarkable work that may well
change the public conversation on one of the most important issues
of our day. If the numerous revelations it contains become widely
known, the arguments being used to defend genetically engineered
foods will be untenable.”--Frederick Kirschenmann, Phd
Distinguished Fellow, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture,
Iowa State University, Author of Cultivating an Ecological
Conscience
“Druker's brilliant exposé catches the promoters of GE
food red-handed: falsifying data, corrupting regulators, lying
to Congress. He thoroughly demonstrates how distortions and
deceptions have been piled one on top of another, year after
year, producing a global industry that teeters on a foundation of
fraud and denial. This book is sure to send shock waves around the
world."--Jeffrey M. Smith, international bestselling author of
Seeds of Deception & Genetic Roulette
“Altered Genes, Twisted Truth is very readable, thorough, logical
and thought-provoking. Steven Druker exposes shenanigans employed
to promote genetic engineering that will surprise even those who
have followed the ag-biotech industry closely for years. I strongly
recommend his book.”--Belinda Martineau, Ph.D., a co-developer of
the first genetically engineered whole food and author of First
Fruit: The Creation of the Flavr Savr™ Tomato and the Birth of
Biotech Foods
“Altered Genes, Twisted Truth reveals how the inception of
molecular biotechnology ignited a battle between those committed to
scientific accuracy and the public interest and those who saw
genetic engineering’s commercial potential. Steven Druker’s
meticulously researched book pieces together the deeply disturbing
and tremendously important history of the intertwined science and
politics of GMOs. Understanding this ongoing struggle is a key to
understanding science in the modern world.”--Allison Wilson, PhD
molecular geneticist, Science Director, The Bioscience Resource
Project
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