40% of publications on bt GMO plants present a financial conflict of interest

Three INRA researchers have analyzed the scientific literature on the efficacy or durability of Bt transgenic plants in terms of the possible link of interest between this research and the biotechnology industries. They published their results in the journal PLOS ONE of 15 December 2016. They showed that 40% of the publications studied present a financial conflict of interest1. More importantly, the findings of these publications are more often favorable to the interests of the seed industries in the presence than in the absence of conflicts of interest. This general trend is also true at the level of the researcher.