I like Bill Nye, but it has bothered me for some time that he was anti-GMO. Nye has been a tireless defender of science when it comes to things like climate change and evolution. So it bothered me that he chose to cherry pick the science when it came to genetics.
About 95 percent of the “case” against GM foods is built on myth and the remaining 5 percent is greatly exaggerated. In reality, the scientific consensus that GM foods are safe is roughly the same as the scientific consensus that humans are the primary cause of climate change.
In a Pew Research survey of American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) members released in January, 88 percent felt that GM foods were safe, 87 percent felt that humans were the primary cause of climate change and 86 percent felt that childhood vaccinations should be required.
As recently as November, 2014 Nye sounded like he was still buying into the anti-GM rhetoric.
Now, just a few months later, it appears that he has done some more homework and is rewriting the chapter on GM products in his latest book Undeniable.
He didn’t specifically say what the new chapter would say, but he did say that he has spent some time with scientists in Monsanto’s labs. In the interview below, backstage at Real Time with Bill Maher, Nye says that he has “revised” his position and that he’s very excited about telling the world, “when you’re in love, you want to tell the world.” (About 3:40 in the video)
All of which sounds to me like he has come around to the position shared by the vast majority of scientists.