Margaret Mellon
Director/Senior Scientist
Food and Environment Program

Statement
"It's time to stop looking at agricultural biotechnology through rose-colored glasses. This is a novel technology that poses serious risks to the environment."

Expertise
antibiotics in livestock and food
biotechnology
consumer impacts on the environment
genetically engineered foods

Profile
Margaret Mellon is one of the nation's most respected experts on biotechnology and food safety. She holds a doctorate in molecular biology and a law degree from the University of Virginia. She was formerly a research fellow in molecular virology at Purdue University and program director for the Environmental Law Institute.

Mellon has published widely on the potential environmental impacts of biotechnology applications. She is co-author of Ecological Risks of Engineered Crops and Hogging It!: Estimates of Antimicrobial Abuse in Livestock and co-editor of Now or Never: Serious New Plans to Save a Natural Pest Control. She serves on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Advisory Committee on Biotechnology and 21st Century Agriculture and teaches a course in biotechnology and the law at the Vermont Law School. In 1993 she received a Distinguished Alumni Award from Purdue University's School of Science.

When Mellon first became aware of biotechnology in the early 1980s, her attitude toward the new technology was like that of most scientists—unreservedly enthusiastic. But as she learned more, she grew skeptical of its benefits and more concerned about its risks. She became convinced that decisions about new technologies shouldn't be left to companies and scientists—she believes the public must have a role. A widely quoted expert on genetic engineering, Mellon regularly appears on ABC World News Tonight, CNN, and NPR, as well as in the New York Times, Washington Post, and many other major media outlets.

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