English: How Rational are the Fears of GMOs?"

Tomáš Moravec European Skeptics Congress www.ecso.org

Tomas Moravec studied Biochemistry at the College of Natural Science of the Charles University in Prague. After multiple semesters abroad in France, USA and Germany, he worked in the laboratory of Dr. R. Beachy in Donald Danforth Planth Science Center in St. Louis, Missouri, USA between 2002 and 2006. Since 2006, he works as a researcher in the Institute of Experimental Botany of the Academy of Sciences in Prague. He focuses on the detection and classification of plant viruses, breeding plants to make them resistent towards virus-caused illnesses, the use of plant viruses for the production of pharmaceutically viable substances in plants, and the use of seeds for the production of pharmaceutical proteins. One of his projects, on which he is cooperating, is exploring plants as bioreactors for growing molecules for medical use. In 2015 he was named the Head of the Virology Laboratory at the institute of Experimental Botany.

"How Rational are the Fears of GMOs?"

Is Humanity in the danger of famine without transgenic products? Or is there a danger of our Planet being overtaken by Superweeds, which escaped from a laboratory of a mad scientist? The topic of genetic modification often brings out lively discussions full of emotion, but realistic facts are usually lacking on both sides of the argument. This talk will try to bring a sober look at the issue of GMO products in the context of the evolution of agriculture in the 21st century