Study: Consumers prefer gene-disrupting pesticides over GMOs

Consumers prefer gene-disrupting “RNAi” biopesticides over genetically engineered crops, but they don’t much like either technology, according to a recent study.  Researchers from the University of Arkansas conducted the study by asking consumers about their “willingness to pay” for conventional rice sprayed with insecticides, rice that’s genetically modified to withstand pests and rice treated with an RNAi biopesticide. The biotech rice and RNAi biopesticide described to consumers aren’t commercially available, so those possibilities were hypothetical. In the U.S., survey participants were willing to pay $7.62 more for a five-pound bag of conventional rice over RNAi-sprayed rice and $12.56 more for conventional rice than genetically engineered rice. Researchers explained to survey participants that both options were unlikely to be unhealthy for humans, while conventional pesticides have varying levels of toxicity. Nonetheless, the respondents preferred conventional rice. It’s part of a pattern of people being afraid of scientific progress, he said. “The negative story gets more press, the negative story is more emotional,” Hunter said. “The horror story is the story you tell around the campfire.”