Earlier this week I learned that a dozen public sector scientists working in the field of biotechnology were hit with Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests from a California-based group opposed to GMO foods. I spoke with many of the targeted scientists and also with the anti-GMO activist who filed the document requests. My story will appear in the next issue of Science, a magazine/journal published weekly on Thursdays. But the article has just been posted online at the Science website. Shortly after the piece went live, I was notified of this press release by the group that filed the document requests. I have additional reporting on this developing story. So stay tuned. Meanwhile, I'll post (below) any updates or related media coverage. UPDATE: Here is a PDF of the freedom of information request sent to Bruce Chassy, professor emeritus at the University of Illinois. (He gave his permission.) It is *nearly* identical to the requests sent to all the other scientists. [*Nearly* was inserted after this sentence was written.] On Twitter, Andrew Revkin wonders about the similarity to a previous controversial episode that rocked the climate science community:
.@keithkloor on GMO foes' FOIA probes for ag-sci/industry ties: http://t.co/Yt4aDiuiwY Echo of climate "skeptics": http://t.co/2BCXP1ph3c — Andy Revkin (@Revkin) February 11, 2015
UPDATE: Kevin Folta, one of the scientists who received a Freedom of Information request, has posted a heartfelt response.
