On March 25, we — a group of ISU graduate students — hosted a panel at Iowa State entitled “Transgenic Bananas? A critical dialogue on the ethics, impacts and alternatives.” 

In their March 28 letter to the Ames Tribune (link to: http://amestrib.com/opinion/letter-isu-deans-support-researcher), Dean Wendy Wintersteen and Dean Pamela White suggest that our event somehow attacked Dr. Wendy White.

The event was intended to be a transparent and respectful conversation among faculty and students about the transgenic banana study underway at Iowa State. We invited representatives from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences — including Dean Wintersteen, Dr. Ruth MacDonald and Dr. Wendy White — to speak to the study itself. We also invited faculty and students with backgrounds in the social sciences and philosophy to speak to the social and ethical implications of the study. Approximately 80 people attended. Its video can be found at www.isutransgenicbanana.com (link to: http://www.isutransgenicbanana.com/).

While the CALS representatives declined our invitation and, to date, have declined to answer the questions we posed about the study, we remain hopeful that they will engage in public dialogue.

We look forward to the day when asking questions about an ongoing study at a public university is not seen as an “attack” but is taken as an opportunity to engage in academic discourse. 

As social and biological scientists, we understand the importance of transparency in science. We attend academic conferences to discuss topics of research and research methods. We prepare for thesis defenses, during which we must justify the way in which we designed and performed our research. We submit research articles to journals for peer review and respond to reviewer critiques of our work. Open and honest discussion is integral to scientific research. Without it, the scientific process itself is in jeopardy. 

Signed:

Andrea Basche, Ph.D. candidate in sustainable agriculture and crop production and physiology

Angie Carter, Ph.D. candidate in sustainable agriculture and sociology

Hannah Dankbar, master’s student in sustainable agriculture and community and regional planning

Rivka Fidel, Ph.D. candidate in soil science

Ahna Kruzic, master’s student in sustainable agriculture and sociology

Jackie Nester, master’s student in sustainable agriculture and community and regional planning

Becca Nixon, master’s student in sustainable agriculture and community and regional planning

Gabrielle Roesch-McNally, Ph.D. candidate in sustainable agriculture and sociology

Jen Tillman, master’s student in sustainable agriculture and horticulture