Your report on the production of genetically modified (GM) beans in Brazil implies that I am an opponent of genetic engineering (Nature 478, 168, 2011). However, you misrepresent my scientific and professional record.

I have never said or written anything against transgenic crops per se. Neither have I claimed to be an opponent of the transgenic technique. However, I have always insisted, as a former member of the Brazilian National Technical Commission on Biosafety (CTNBio) and in my capacity in other professional positions, on critical risk-assessment studies and on research meeting a minimum standard of scientific quality.

This is because proper dossiers from the technology proponents are never presented to the CTNBio or the scientific community. In the case of the transgenic pinto bean from EMBRAPA, the agriculture ministry's research arm, neither of these requirements was met.