Social learning theory and public perception of GMOs: What Blancke et al. (2015) and other plant biotechnologists are...

There exists a wide chasm between public opinion and scientific evidence on the safety of genetically engineered food, herein referred to as GMOs. Plant biotechnologists give credit to a small community of activists negatively influencing individual minds on this issue, but this approach neglects other social contexts in which such cognition operates. The author argues here that current public opinion on GMOs is a manifestation of the constant interaction between environmental, behavioral, and cognitive influences on this issue. In order to sway public opinion and be consistent with social learning theory, biotechnology advocates and plant scientists will need to move beyond their recognized expertise in order to rework the argument for GMOs in the modern-day food supply, one that wholly embraces an individual-level framing of the debate, tantamount to other successful professional trends like patient-centered medicine. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.