HomeDate: 2026-01-29
Speaker: Dr. Sir Richard J. Roberts (1993 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine)
Hosted by Dr. James C. Liao, President of Academia Sinica
Time: February 5, 2026, Thursday, 14:00
Venue: Auditorium B1C, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica
Online Registration
https://forms.gle/Z5ezUfm4xHeg92ybA
Government employees participating in the lecture will receive certification for lifelong learning and 2 hours of study credit.
Contact:
Mr. Chang, Department of International Affairs, Academia Sinica Tel: (02) 2789-9895
Lecture Synopsis: When Monsanto first attempted to introduce GMO seeds into Europe, it encountered strong opposition from Green parties and their political allies, who feared that American agribusiness was poised to take control of Europe’s food supply. This opposition sparked a large-scale campaign not against the true target, Monsanto itself, but against a surrogate target: GMOs.
Dr. Roberts argues that by deliberately ignoring the scientific evidence underlying GMOs and by portraying exaggerated and frightening scenarios about their potential dangers, political motivations have slowed the widespread adoption of these technologies—often to the detriment of the developing world. Increased productivity of nutritious crops can help alleviate hunger and malnutrition, and can also contribute to mitigating climate change by removing CO₂ and methane from the atmosphere.
