Conflicts of interest among committee members in the National Academies’ genetically engineered crop study

Journal or Publishing Institution: PLoS One

Study: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0172317

Author(s): Krimsky, S. and Schwab, T.

Article Type: Journal Publication

Record ID: 1293

Abstract: The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) publishes numerous reports each year that are received with high esteem by the scientific community and public policy makers. The NASEM has internal standards for selecting committee members that author its reports, mostly from academia, and vetting conflicts of interest. This study examines whether there were any financial conflicts of interest (COIs) among the twenty invited committee members who wrote the 2016 report on genetically engineered (GE) crops. Our results showed that six panel members had one or more reportable financial COIs, none of which were disclosed in the report. We also report on institutional COIs held by the NASEM related to the report. The difference between our findings and the NASEM reporting standards are discussed.

Keywords: conflicts of interest, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, genetically engineered, GMO, GM, genetically modified, transgenic, crops, food

Citation: Krimsky, S. and Schwab, T., 2017. Conflicts of interest among committee members in the National Academies’ genetically engineered crop study. PloS One, 12(2), p.e0172317.