David Suzuki

This article is about the biologist. For the U.S. heavy metal musician, see Dave Suzuki.

David Suzuki CC OBC FRSC
Suzuki in December 2009
Born	David Takayoshi Suzuki (1936-03-24) March 24, 1936 (age 88) Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Alma mater	Amherst College (BA) University of Chicago (PhD)
Awards	Order of Canada, (OC 1976, CC 2006) UNESCO's Kalinga Prize (1986) Right Livelihood Award (2009)
Scientific career
Institutions	University of British Columbia
Thesis	Interchromosomal effects on crossing over in Drosophila melanogaster  (1961)
Doctoral advisor	Bill Baker
Other academic advisors	Bill Hexter Dan Lindsley
Signature

David Takayoshi Suzuki CC OBC FRSC (born March 24, 1936) is a Canadian academic, science broadcaster, and environmental activist. Suzuki earned a PhD in zoology from the University of Chicago in 1961, and was a professor in the genetics department at the University of British Columbia from 1963 until his retirement in 2001. Since the mid-1970s, Suzuki has been known for his television and radio series, documentaries and books about nature and the environment. He is best known as host and narrator of the popular and long-running CBC Television science program The Nature of Things , seen in over 40 countries. He is also well known for criticizing governments for their lack of action to protect the environment.

A longtime activist to reverse global climate change, Suzuki co-founded the David Suzuki Foundation in 1990, to work "to find ways for society to live in balance with the natural world that does sustain us." The Foundation's priorities are: oceans and sustainable fishing, climate change and clean energy, sustainability, and Suzuki's Nature Challenge. The Foundation also works on ways to help protect the oceans from large oil spills such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. ^[1] Suzuki has also served as a director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association from 1982 to 1987.

Suzuki was awarded the Right Livelihood Award in 2009. His 2011 book, The Legacy, won the Nautilus Book Award. He is a Companion of the Order of Canada. In 2004, Suzuki ranked fifth on the list of final nominees in a CBC television series that asked viewers to select The Greatest Canadian of all time.

Early life

Suzuki has a twin sister named Marcia, as well as two other siblings, Geraldine (now known as Aiko) and Dawn. He was born in 1936 to Setsu Nakamura and Kaoru Carr Suzuki in Vancouver, British Columbia, where his parents were also born. ^[2] Suzuki's maternal and paternal grandparents had immigrated to Canada at the beginning of the 20th century from Hiroshima Prefecture and Aichi Prefecture respectively. ^{[3] [4]}

A third-generation Japanese Canadian ("Canadian Sansei"), Suzuki's family suffered internment in British Columbia early during the Second World War until after the war ended in 1945. In June 1942, the government sold the Suzuki family's dry cleaning business, then interned Suzuki, his mother, and two sisters in a camp at Slocan in the British Columbia Interior. ^[5] His father had been sent to a labour camp in Solsqua in the Southern Interior region of BC two months earlier. His sister Dawn was born in the internment camp. ^[6]

After the war, Suzuki's family, like other Japanese Canadian families, were forced to move east of the Rockies. They moved around Ontario, from Etobicoke, Leamington, and eventually to London. In interviews, Suzuki has consistently credited his father for having interested him in and sensitized him to nature. ^[7]

Suzuki attended Mill Street Elementary School and Grade 9 at Leamington District Secondary School before moving to London, Ontario, where he attended London Central Secondary School. ^[8]

Academic career

Suzuki received his Bachelor of Arts degree in biology in 1958 from Amherst College in Massachusetts where he first developed an interest in genetics, ^[9] and his Doctor of Philosophy degree in zoology from the University of Chicago in 1961. ^[10] From 1961 to 1962, Suzuki worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. From 1962 to 1963, he was an assistant professor at the University of Alberta. He was a professor in the genetics department at the University of British Columbia for almost forty years, from 1963 until his retirement in 2001, and has since been professor emeritus at a university research institute. ^[11]

Early in his research career he studied genetics using the popular model organism Drosophila melanogaster (fruit flies). To be able to use his initials in naming any new genes he found, he studied dominant temperature-sensitive (DTS) phenotypes. He jokingly noted at a lecture at Johns Hopkins University that the only alternative subject was "(damn) tough skin."

Broadcasting career

Suzuki in 2006

Suzuki began in television on January 10, 1971 with the weekly children's show Suzuki on Science . In 1974, he founded the radio program Quirks & Quarks , which he also hosted on CBC AM radio (the forerunner of CBC Radio One) from 1975 to 1979. Throughout the 1970s, he also hosted Science Magazine , a weekly program geared towards an adult audience.

From 1979 to 2023, Suzuki hosted The Nature of Things , a CBC television series that has aired in nearly fifty countries worldwide. ^[12] In this program, Suzuki's aim is to stimulate interest in the natural world, to point out threats to human well-being and wildlife habitat, and to present alternatives to humanity for achieving a more sustainable society. Suzuki has been a prominent proponent of renewable energy sources and the soft energy path.

Suzuki was the host of the critically acclaimed 1993 PBS series The Secret of Life. ^[13] His 1985 hit series, A Planet for the Taking, averaged more than 1.8 million viewers per episode and earned him a United Nations Environment Programme Medal. His perspective in this series is summed up in his statement: "We have both a sense of the importance of the wilderness and space in our culture and an attitude that it is limitless and therefore we needn't worry." He concludes with a call for a major "perceptual shift" in our relationship with nature and the wild.

Suzuki's The Sacred Balance , a book first published in 1997 and later made into a five-hour mini-series on Canadian public television, was broadcast in 2002. ^{[14] [15]} Suzuki is now taking part in an advertisement campaign with the tagline "You have the power", promoting energy conservation through various household alternatives, such as the use of compact fluorescent lightbulbs.

For the Discovery Channel, Suzuki also produced "Yellowstone to Yukon: The Wildlands Project" in 1997. The conservation-biology based documentary focused on Dave Foreman's Wildlands Project, which considers how to create corridors between and buffer zones around large wilderness reserves as a means to preserve biological diversity. Foreman developed this project after leaving Earth First! (which he co-founded) in 1990. The conservation biologists Michael Soulé and Reed Noss were also directly involved.

In October 2022, Suzuki announced his retirement from The Nature of Things series in spring 2023. ^{[16] [17]}

Climate change activism

Suzuki in conversation with Silver Donald Cameron about his work.

Suzuki spoke at the 2007 Global Day of Action event in Vancouver, B.C. The sign in the background refers to the Greater Vancouver Gateway Program.

In February 2008, he urged McGill University students to speak out against politicians who fail to act on climate change, stating, "What I would challenge you to do is to put a lot of effort into trying to see whether there's a legal way of throwing our so-called leaders into jail because what they're doing is a criminal act." ^{[18] [19]}

Suzuki is unequivocal that climate change is a very real and pressing problem and that an "overwhelming majority of scientists" now agree that human activity is responsible. The David Suzuki Foundation website has a clear statement of this:

The debate is over about whether or not climate change is real. Irrefutable evidence from around the world – including extreme weather events, record temperatures, retreating glaciers, and rising sea levels  – all point to the fact climate change is happening now and at rates much faster than previously thought.

The overwhelming majority of scientists who study climate change agree that human activity is responsible for changing the climate. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is one of the largest bodies of international scientists ever assembled to study a scientific issue, involving more than 2,500 scientists from more than 130 countries. The IPCC has concluded that most of the warming observed during the past 50 years is attributable to human activities. Its findings have been publicly endorsed by the National Academies of Science of all G8 nations, as well as those of China, India and Brazil. ^[20]

Suzuki says that despite this growing consensus, many in the public and the media seemed doubtful about the science for many years. The reason for the confusion about climate change, in Suzuki's view, was due to a well organized campaign of disinformation about the science involved. "A very small number of critics" denies that climate change exists and that humans are the cause. These climate change deniers, Suzuki says, tend not to be climate scientists and do not publish in peer-reviewed scientific journals but rather target the media, the general public, and policy makers. Their goal: "delaying action on climate change." According to Suzuki, deniers have received significant funding from coal and oil companies, including ExxonMobil. They are linked to "industry-funded lobby groups", such as the Information Council on the Environment (ICE), ^[21] whose aim is to "reposition global warming as theory (not fact)." ^[20]

Suzuki is a "messenger" / ambassador for the environmental organization 350.org advocating for cutting CO₂ emissions and creating climate solutions. ^[22]

Suzuki has supported ecocide becoming a crime at the International Criminal Court stating "Ecocide is not only a crime against life, it is suicidal for us because we are the apex predator that is utterly dependent on nature's services." ^{[23] [24]}

Suzuki has attracted criticism for maintaining a lifestyle with a substantial carbon footprint while proselytizing against carbon emissions. Suzuki himself laments that in travelling constantly to spread his message of climate responsibility, he has ended up "over his [carbon] limit by hundreds of tonnes." He says that he has stopped vacationing overseas, and aims to "cluster" his speaking engagements together to reduce his carbon footprint. He would prefer, he says, to appear solely by video conference. ^[25]

Suzuki has criticized the discipline of economics for not valuing the environment. ^[26]

In 2021, he said that pipelines would be "blown up" if climate action was not taken; he later apologized. ^[27]

Social commentary

Suzuki signing a copy of his work

Genetically modified food

Suzuki has been criticized ^[28] for his pseudoscientific ^{[29] [30] [31] [32]} beliefs on GMOs. Suzuki has written that "products of biotechnology are being rammed into our food, onto our fields and into our medicines, without any public participation in discussions and with the complicity, indeed, the active support and funding of governments. But there are profound health, ecological and economic ramifications of this activity." ^[33] In a 1999 CP Wire article, Suzuki is quoted as saying: "Any politician or scientist who tells you these products are safe is either very stupid or lying." ^[34] In an interview with CBC TV, Suzuki argues that the science showing GMOs are safe is "very, very bad science" and that the commercialization of GMOs is "driven by money." ^[35] His foundation's website includes an "Understanding GMO" page which claims "the safety of GMO foods is unproven and a growing body of research connects these foods with health concerns." ^[36]

Fukushima

In a 2013 speech on water policy at the University of Alberta, Suzuki claimed that a second emergency at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant would require the evacuation of the North American west coast. Three months later, he admitted that his comment was "off-the-cuff." ^[37] However, Suzuki still speculates that another earthquake could trigger a new nuclear disaster in Fukushima, ^[38] as the Japanese Atomic Energy Commission paper he cited in his aforementioned speech at the University of Alberta states that such a disaster could call for the evacuation of over 10 million Japanese residents. ^[37]

Immigration

In 2013, in the French news magazine L'Express , Suzuki called Canada's immigration policy "disgusting" (We "plunder southern countries to deprive them of their future leaders, and wish to increase our population to support economic growth") and insisted that "Canada is full" ("Our useful area is reduced"). ^[39]

Canadian justice system

While being interviewed by Tony Jones on Australia's ABC TV network in September 2013, Suzuki repeated the claim from Canadian media that the Harper government was building prisons even though crime rates were declining in Canada. ^{[40] [41] [42]} He suggested that the prisons might be being built so that Stephen Harper can incarcerate environmental activists. ^{[40] [43]} Jean-Christophe De Le Rue, a spokesman for Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney, denied the claims, emphasizing that the Canadian government is not building any prisons, nor do they have plans to build any. ^[43] However, in 2011, the Harper government did announce a 5-year, "$2-billion federal prison-building boom" to add "over 2,700 beds to men's and women's prisons across Canada" with $517-million already "spent on prison construction" in 2010–2011. ^{[41] [44] [45]}

Relationship with Justin Trudeau

According to Suzuki, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called Suzuki to ask for Suzuki's endorsement of the Liberal platform on climate change. Upon pointed questioning by Suzuki, the conversation turned "nasty", with Trudeau saying "I don't have to listen to this sanctimonious crap", at which time Suzuki "proceeded to call him a twerp" ^[46]

Personal life

Suzuki was married to Setsuko Joane Sunahara ^[47] from 1958 to 1965; the couple had three children. ^[48] In 1973, Suzuki married a second time to Tara Elizabeth Cullis, ^[49] with whom he had two daughters: Severn Cullis-Suzuki and Sarika Cullis-Suzuki. As of 2022, he has ten grandchildren, including snowboarder and filmmaker Tamo Campos. ^{[50] [51] [52]} His cousin’s grandchildren are Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki, and Carolina Hurricanes player Ryan Suzuki. ^[53]

Suzuki is an atheist. ^[54]

Suzuki was criticized by the National Post for owning multiple homes "because he often preaches the virtues of minimalism". ^[55]

Awards and honours

Suzuki receives the Right Livelihood Award from Jakob von Uexküll.

• Suzuki is an appointee to the Order of Canada, first as an Officer (1976), then upgraded to Companion status in (2006), ^[56] the Order of British Columbia (1995), and is the recipient of ^[57] UNESCO's Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of Science (1986) ^[58] and a long list of Canadian and international honours.
• Canadian version of the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977.
• 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal in 1992.
• Canadian version of the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002.
• Canadian version of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.
• In 2004, Suzuki was nominated as one of the top ten "Greatest Canadians" by viewers of the CBC. In the final vote he ranked fifth, making him the greatest living Canadian. ^[59] Suzuki said that his own vote was for Tommy Douglas who was the eventual winner.
• In 2006, Suzuki was the recipient of the Bradford Washburn Award presented at the Museum of Science in Boston, Massachusetts. ^[60]
• In 2007, Suzuki was honoured by Global Exchange, with the International Human Rights Award.
• In 2009, Suzuki was awarded the honorary Right Livelihood Award. ^[61]
• He was the subject of Sturla Gunnarsson's 2010 documentary film Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie .
• On June 23, 2015, Suzuki was awarded the Freedom of the City by the Vancouver City Council, which entitled him to the title Freeman of the City of Vancouver. ^[62]

Honorary degrees

Suzuki has been awarded honorary degrees from many universities. ^[63]

Location	Date	School	Degree
Prince Edward Island	1974	University of Prince Edward Island	Doctor of Laws (LL.D) [64]
Ontario	June 1979	University of Windsor	Doctor of Science (D.Sc) [65]
Nova Scotia	1979	Acadia University	Doctor of Science (D.Sc) [66]
Ontario	Fall 1981	Trent University	Doctor of Laws (LL.D) [67]
Alberta	1986	University of Calgary	Doctor of Laws (LL.D)
Illinois	1986	Governors State University	Doctor of Humane Letters (DHL) [68]
Ontario	1986	Lakehead University	Doctor of Science (D.Sc) [69]
Ontario	June 1987	McMaster University	Doctor of Science (D.Sc) [70]
Ontario	1987	Queen's University	Doctor of Laws (LL.D) [71]
Ontario	1987	Carleton University	Doctor of Science (D.Sc) [72]
Massachusetts	1989	Amherst College	Doctor of Science (D.Sc) [73]
Queensland	16 April 1997	Griffith University	Doctor of the University (D.Univ) [74]
Washington	1999	Whitman College	Doctor of Science (D.Sc) [75]
Maine	2000	Unity College	Doctor of Environmental Science
British Columbia	2000	Simon Fraser University	Doctor of Laws (LL.D) [76]
Ontario	Spring 2005	York University	Doctor of Science (D.Sc) [77]
Quebec	2005	Université du Québec à Montréal	Doctor of Science (D.Sc)
South Australia	2005	Flinders University	Doctor of Science (D.Sc) [78]
Ontario	2007	Ryerson University	Doctor of Communications [79]
Quebec	2007	Université de Montréal	Doctor of Science (D.Sc)
Ontario	10 August 2007	University of Western Ontario	Doctor of Science (D.Sc) [80]
Ontario	2008	Lambton College	Diploma in Alternative Energy Engineering Technology [81]
Newfoundland and Labrador	May 2009	Memorial University of Newfoundland	Doctor of Science (D.Sc) [82]
Nova Scotia	2010	Université Sainte-Anne	Doctorate
Quebec	2011	Université Laval	Doctor of Communications
British Columbia	25 November 2011	University of British Columbia	Doctor of Science (D.Sc) [83] [84]
Ontario	June 2012	University of Guelph	Doctor of Laws (LL.D) [85]
Manitoba	2015	University of Winnipeg	Doctor of Science (D.Sc) [86] [87]
Alberta	7 June 2018	University of Alberta	Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) [88]

Publications

Suzuki is the author of 52 books (nineteen for children), including David Suzuki: The Autobiography , Tree: A Life Story , The Sacred Balance , Genethics, Wisdom of the Elders, Inventing the Future, and the best-selling Looking At Senses a series of children's science books. This is a partial list of publications ^[89] by Suzuki:

• Sciencescape – The Nature of Canada (1986) – with Hans Blohm and Marjorie Harris
• Pebbles to Computers: The Thread (1986) – with Hans Blohm and Stafford Beer
• Metamorphosis: Stages in a life (1987) ISBN   0-773-72139-8
• Genethics: The Clash between the New Genetics and Human Values (1990)
• It's a Matter of Survival (1991) ISBN   0-674-46970-4
• Time to Change (1994)
• The Japan We Never Knew: A Journey of Discovery (1997) – with Keibo Oiwa
• The Sacred Balance (1997)
• From Naked Ape to Superspecies: A Personal Perspective on Humanity and the Global Ecocrisis (1999) – with Holly Dressel. ISBN   0-773-73194-6
  • From Naked Ape to Superspecies: Humanity and the Global Eco-Crisis, (2nd edition 2004) – with Holly Dressel. ISBN   1-553-65031-X
• Good News for a Change: Hope for a Troubled Planet (2001) – with Holly Dressel. ISBN   0-773-73307-8
• More Good News (2003) ^[90]
  • More Good News: Real Solutions to the Global Eco-Crisis (Revised ed. 2010) – with Holly Dressel. ISBN   1-553-65475-7
• David Suzuki: The Autobiography (2006)
• David Suzuki's Green Guide (2008) – with David Boyd
• The Big Picture: Reflections on Science, Humanity, and a Quickly Changing Planet (2009) – with David Taylor
• The Legacy: An Elder's vision for a sustainable future (2010) – with foreword by Margaret Atwood
• Letters to My Grandchildren (2015) ISBN   978-1771640886
• Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie (2010), 93-minute documentary DVD (210616DV) ^{[91] [92] [93]}

Archives

There are David Suzuki fonds at the University of British Columbia. ^[94]

See also

• Conservation biology
• Environmentalism

References

1. "Protecting Canada from an Oil Spill". David Suzuki Foundation. Archived from the original on 28 October 2014. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
2. Suzuki, David. "Excerpt from The Legacy: An Elder's Vision for Our Sustainable Future by David Suzuki". Archived from the original on 2013-02-03. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
3. Kosaka, Kris (April 25, 2009). "Environmentalist David Suzuki has words of warning for ancestral homeland". The Japan Times . Retrieved 2022-12-12.
4. Suzuki, David (1987). Metamorphosis: Stages in a Life . Stoddart. pp.  20. ISBN   9780773721395.
5. Gordon, K. (2007) The Slocan Valley – Our History Archived 2007-08-05 at the Wayback Machine , Slocan Valley Economic Development Commission. Retrieved on July 28, 2007.
6. Panorama (May 3, 2007). "May is Asian Heritage Month". Metroland Media. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
7. "David Suzuki | The Canadian Encyclopedia". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
8. Wong, Jan (1997-02-20). "Lunch with Jan Wong: Free clams, an eyeball and Suzuki's world view", The Globe and Mail , p. E1.
9. "David Suzuki". Foundation Guide. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
10. Suzuki, David Takayoshi (1961). Interchromosomal effects on crossing over in Drosophila melanogaster (PhD). The University of Chicago. OCLC   49442104 – via ProQuest.
11. "David Suzuki's profile". Greenfestivals.org. Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2011-02-21.
12. "CBC website on Nature of Things". CBC.ca. 2007-05-18. Archived from the original on August 6, 2010. Retrieved 2011-02-21.
13. Review of The Secret of Life 25 September 1993 New York Times. Retrieved 21 July 2008.
14. "Broadcast schedule of The Sacred Balance". SacredBalance.com. Archived from the original on 2010-09-07. Retrieved 2011-02-21.
15. "Production Team of The Sacred Balance". SacredBalance.com. 2002-10-13. Archived from the original on 2010-09-07. Retrieved 2011-02-21.
16. "David Suzuki is retiring from The Nature of Things to focus on activism and calling out 'BS'". ca.news.yahoo.com. 24 October 2022. Retrieved 2023-01-02.
17. "CBC's 'The Nature of Things' Names Sarika Cullis-Suzuki and Anthony Morgan as New Hosts (EXCLUSIVE)". www.yahoo.com. 30 November 2022. Retrieved 2023-01-02.
18. Babbage, Sarah (2008-02-04). "Jail Politicians Who Ignore Science: Suzuki". Canada: The McGill Daily. Archived from the original on 2008-02-08. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
19. Offman, Craig (2008-02-07). "Jail politicians who ignore climate science: Suzuki". National Post. Canada. Retrieved 2008-02-07.
20. "Climate change deniers". Climate Change Science and Policy. David Suzuki Foundation. Archived from the original on 2011-08-03. Retrieved 2011-08-13.
21. The Heat is Online. "The Coal Industry's "ICE" Campaign (1999)". Retrieved on: 2011-08-13.
22. "International day of demonstrations on climate change". CNN.com . October 26, 2009. Archived from the original on October 27, 2009. Retrieved October 26, 2009.
23. "Supporters of Ecocide Law". Stop Ecocide International. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
24. Editor, David Suzuki with contributions from Senior; Hanington, Writer Ian. "Herman Daly saw economy, ecology and ethics as inseparable". David Suzuki Foundation. Retrieved 2023-06-21.{{cite web}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
25. Cernetig, Miro. "Suzuki gets the irony as popularity increases". Vancouver Sun. CanWest Global. Archived from the original on 2011-11-25. Retrieved 2008-01-09.
26. Jerema, Carson. "David Suzuki honorary degree sends bad message about education: economist". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
27. McSheffrey, Elizabeth (25 November 2021). "David Suzuki apologizes for 'poorly chosen' words about pipelines being 'blown up'". Global News. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
28. "David Suzuki: Canada's 'science guy' turned eccentric anti-GMO, chemical scaremonger?". Genetic Literacy Project. 5 January 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
29. Nicolia, Alessandro; Manzo, Alberto; Veronesi, Fabio; Rosellini, Daniele (2013). "An overview of the last 10 years of genetically engineered crop safety research" (PDF). Critical Reviews in Biotechnology. 34 (1): 77–88. doi:10.3109/07388551.2013.823595. PMID   24041244. S2CID   9836802. We have reviewed the scientific literature on GE crop safety for the last 10 years that catches the scientific consensus matured since GE plants became widely cultivated worldwide, and we can conclude that the scientific research conducted so far has not detected any significant hazard directly connected with the use of GM crops.
    
    The literature about Biodiversity and the GE food/feed consumption has sometimes resulted in animated debate regarding the suitability of the experimental designs, the choice of the statistical methods or the public accessibility of data. Such debate, even if positive and part of the natural process of review by the scientific community, has frequently been distorted by the media and often used politically and inappropriately in anti-GE crops campaigns.
30. "State of Food and Agriculture 2003–2004. Agricultural Biotechnology: Meeting the Needs of the Poor. Health and environmental impacts of transgenic crops". Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved August 30, 2019. Currently available transgenic crops and foods derived from them have been judged safe to eat and the methods used to test their safety have been deemed appropriate. These conclusions represent the consensus of the scientific evidence surveyed by the ICSU (2003) and they are consistent with the views of the World Health Organization (WHO, 2002). These foods have been assessed for increased risks to human health by several national regulatory authorities (inter alia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, the United Kingdom and the United States) using their national food safety procedures (ICSU). To date no verifiable untoward toxic or nutritionally deleterious effects resulting from the consumption of foods derived from genetically modified crops have been discovered anywhere in the world (GM Science Review Panel). Many millions of people have consumed foods derived from GM plants - mainly maize, soybean and oilseed rape - without any observed adverse effects (ICSU).
31. Ronald, Pamela (May 1, 2011). "Plant Genetics, Sustainable Agriculture and Global Food Security". Genetics. 188 (1): 11–20. doi:10.1534/genetics.111.128553. PMC   3120150 . PMID   21546547. There is broad scientific consensus that genetically engineered crops currently on the market are safe to eat. After 14 years of cultivation and a cumulative total of 2 billion acres planted, no adverse health or environmental effects have resulted from commercialization of genetically engineered crops (Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources, Committee on Environmental Impacts Associated with Commercialization of Transgenic Plants, National Research Council and Division on Earth and Life Studies 2002). Both the U.S. National Research Council and the Joint Research Centre (the European Union's scientific and technical research laboratory and an integral part of the European Commission) have concluded that there is a comprehensive body of knowledge that adequately addresses the food safety issue of genetically engineered crops (Committee on Identifying and Assessing Unintended Effects of Genetically Engineered Foods on Human Health and National Research Council 2004; European Commission Joint Research Centre 2008). These and other recent reports conclude that the processes of genetic engineering and conventional breeding are no different in terms of unintended consequences to human health and the environment (European Commission Directorate-General for Research and Innovation 2010).

32. But see also:

    Domingo, José L.; Bordonaba, Jordi Giné (2011). "A literature review on the safety assessment of genetically modified plants" (PDF). Environment International. 37 (4): 734–742. Bibcode:2011EnInt..37..734D. doi:10.1016/j.envint.2011.01.003. PMID   21296423. In spite of this, the number of studies specifically focused on safety assessment of GM plants is still limited. However, it is important to remark that for the first time, a certain equilibrium in the number of research groups suggesting, on the basis of their studies, that a number of varieties of GM products (mainly maize and soybeans) are as safe and nutritious as the respective conventional non-GM plant, and those raising still serious concerns, was observed. Moreover, it is worth mentioning that most of the studies demonstrating that GM foods are as nutritional and safe as those obtained by conventional breeding, have been performed by biotechnology companies or associates, which are also responsible of commercializing these GM plants. Anyhow, this represents a notable advance in comparison with the lack of studies published in recent years in scientific journals by those companies.

    Krimsky, Sheldon (2015). "An Illusory Consensus behind GMO Health Assessment". Science, Technology, & Human Values. 40 (6): 883–914. doi:10.1177/0162243915598381. S2CID   40855100. I began this article with the testimonials from respected scientists that there is literally no scientific controversy over the health effects of GMOs. My investigation into the scientific literature tells another story.

    And contrast:

    Panchin, Alexander Y.; Tuzhikov, Alexander I. (January 14, 2016). "Published GMO studies find no evidence of harm when corrected for multiple comparisons". Critical Reviews in Biotechnology. 37 (2): 213–217. doi:10.3109/07388551.2015.1130684. ISSN   0738-8551. PMID   26767435. S2CID   11786594. Here, we show that a number of articles some of which have strongly and negatively influenced the public opinion on GM crops and even provoked political actions, such as GMO embargo, share common flaws in the statistical evaluation of the data. Having accounted for these flaws, we conclude that the data presented in these articles does not provide any substantial evidence of GMO harm.
    
    The presented articles suggesting possible harm of GMOs received high public attention. However, despite their claims, they actually weaken the evidence for the harm and lack of substantial equivalency of studied GMOs. We emphasize that with over 1783 published articles on GMOs over the last 10 years it is expected that some of them should have reported undesired differences between GMOs and conventional crops even if no such differences exist in reality.

    and

    Yang, Y.T.; Chen, B. (2016). "Governing GMOs in the USA: science, law and public health". Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. 96 (4): 1851–1855. Bibcode:2016JSFA...96.1851Y. doi:10.1002/jsfa.7523. PMID   26536836. It is therefore not surprising that efforts to require labeling and to ban GMOs have been a growing political issue in the USA (citing Domingo and Bordonaba, 2011). Overall, a broad scientific consensus holds that currently marketed GM food poses no greater risk than conventional food... Major national and international science and medical associations have stated that no adverse human health effects related to GMO food have been reported or substantiated in peer-reviewed literature to date.
    
    Despite various concerns, today, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the World Health Organization, and many independent international science organizations agree that GMOs are just as safe as other foods. Compared with conventional breeding techniques, genetic engineering is far more precise and, in most cases, less likely to create an unexpected outcome.
33. "Biotech Essay" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-07-22.
34. "Suzuki Warns of "Frankenstein Foods"". www.iatp.org.
35. "CBC Interview".
36. "Understanding GMO". Archived from the original on 2012-12-23.
37. Hopper, Tristin (25 January 2015). "David Suzuki 'regrets' claim that another Fukushima disaster would require mass evacuations in North America". National Post. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
38. Suzuki, David (January 28, 2014). "David Suzuki: Citizen scientists can fill info gaps about Fukushima effects". straight.com. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
39. "David Suzuki and Jason Kenney amplify each other". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. 2013-07-15. Retrieved 2013-10-04.
40. "An Audience With David Suzuki". ABC Q&A. 2013-09-23. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
41. "Critics say Harper government throwing prison expansion money away". Toronto Star. 2011-01-10. Retrieved 2013-12-02.
42. "Canada's crime rate: Two decades of decline". Statistics Canada. 2017-03-03. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
43. "Suzuki: Harper is building prisons for eco-activists". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 2013-10-04.
44. "Harper government to announce more prison expansions". iPolitics.ca. Retrieved 2013-12-02.
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Bibliography

• John C. Phillipson et al. "David Takayoshi Suzuki" in The Canadian Encyclopedia: Year 2000 Edition, James Marsh, ed. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1999. p. 2277. ISBN   0-7710-2099-6
• David Suzuki. Metamorphosis. Toronto: Stoddart, 1991. ISBN   0-7737-5509-8

Further reading

• Suzuki, David (2007), David Suzuki: The Autobiography, Greystone Books, ISBN   9781553652816
• Suzuki, David; Boyd, David R. (2008), David Suzuki's Green Guide, Greystone Books, ISBN   9781553652939
• Gazlay, Suzy (2009), David Suzuki: Doing Battle with Climate Change, Crabtree, ISBN   9780778746652

External links

• David Suzuki Foundation
• David Suzuki Institute
• David Suzuki at IMDb
• Order of Canada citation
• The Nature of Things official website
• The Right Livelihood Award
• David Suzuki speaks out against genetically modified food, 2:39, Oct. 17, 2001, CBC Digital Archive
• Video: David Suzuki – Observing our Species At the Montreal Degrowth Conference 2012, 10 minutes.