The refusal of many people to accept genetically modified foods is often perceived as a failure to convince the public of the benefits of science. I would argue that, in terms of public engagement, the GM debate of 20 years ago was in some ways a success .

The GM campaign should have gone further to facilitate a more thoughtful discourse, but at the end of the day, the response was “no thanks”. Genuine public engagement is, by its definition, a two-way process of asking questions and listening to the answers. …