Scientists condemn Prince's 'woolly' lecture on GM food
By Charles Clover, Environment Editor

THE Prince of Wales's attack on scientists for tampering with nature in his Reith lecture on BBC Radio last night drew praise from environmentalists, but hostility from scientists.

 The Prince said that humanity's "inability or refusal to accept the existence of a guiding hand" meant that "nature has come to be regarded as a system that can be engineered for our own convenience . . . and in which anything that happens can be fixed by technology and human ingenuity".

 His lecture continued: "We need to rediscover a reverence for the natural world . . . to become more aware of the relationship between God, man and creation."

 But Steve Jones, professor of genetics at University College London and a Telegraph columnist, said the Prince of Wales was "a classic woolly thinker". He said: "He is mixing up theology and science. The best thing he should do is go back to school and do more A-levels. 

"He has not accepted that it is possible to use science to look at the wonders of the world. I have no time for understanding of people who prefer ignorance to knowledge. I'm thinking of a bumper sticker I saw in America: 'If you think knowledge is expensive, try ignorance'."

 The Prince's speech expressed unqualified hostility towards genetic manipulation by modern genetic engineering techniques, unqualified by his previously approving nods in the direction of the potential medical uses of GM technology. 

He said: "If literally nothing is held sacred any more - because it is considered synonymous with superstition or in some other way 'irrational' - what is there to prevent us treating our entire world as some great laboratory of life, with potentially disastrous long-term consequences?"

 He welcomed a "precautionary approach" to scientific advances and mocked those who portray it as a sign of weakness or an attempt to halt progress, saying: "I believe it to be a sign of strength and wisdom."

 "In this technology-driven age, it is all too easy for us to forget that mankind is part of nature and not apart from it, and that this is why we should seek to work with the grain of nature in everything we do. Only by rediscovering the essential unity and order of the living and spiritual world will we avoid the disintegration of our overall environment."

 Dr Richard Dawkins, the zoologist, atheist and author, said: "I am saddened by Prince Charles's lecture, the more so because he is so obviously a very nice man and very well-meaning. What person of goodwill could disagree that our primary concern should be with long-term stewardship, with the welfare of the planet?

 "But how grieving that Prince Charles should tie this enlightened view to a wholly unnecessary hostility towards scientific rationalism. Worse, that he should link it to a championing of traditional religious world views."

 Martin Bobrow, professor of medical genetics at Cambridge University, said: "I think it is extremely unhelpful to convey a general attitude of being antagonistic to a scientific process. Science is about inventing things and understanding what we do know and what we don't know.

 "I believe there could be great benefits. I believe there are potential dangers and I think it is important that we should concentrate on both but keep a balance rather than just presenting a general impression of antagonism."

 John Burn, professor of clinical genetics at Newcastle University and a member of the Human Genetics Commission, said: "I think he is reflecting an unease with the pace of change and that is understandable, but we must resist the tendency to say everyone has to stop changing."