Faculty
Alan McHughen
CE Biotechnology Specialist and Geneticist (D.Phil. 1979, University of Oxford, England)
Office: 3110 Batchelor Hall
Phone: (951) 827-7532
Fax: (951) 827-4437
E-mail: alanmc@citrus.ucr.edu
Alan McHughen is a public sector educator, scientist and consumer advocate. After earning his doctorate at Oxford University, Dr McHughen worked at Yale University and the University of Saskatchewan before joining the University of California, Riverside. A molecular geneticist with an interest in crop improvement and environmental sustainability, he helped develop US and Canadian regulations covering genetically engineered crops and foods. He served on recent US National Academy of Sciences panels investigating the environmental effects of transgenic plants, and a second investigating the health effects of genetically modified foods. He is now Past President and Treasurer of the International Society for Biosafety Research (ISBR). Having developed internationally approved commercial crop varieties using both conventional breeding and genetic engineering techniques, he has firsthand experience with the relevant issues from both sides of the regulatory process. As an educator and consumer advocate, he helps non-scientists understand the environmental and health impacts of both modern and traditional methods of food production. His award winning book, 'Pandora's Picnic Basket; The Potential and Hazards of Genetically Modified Foods' (Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-850674-0), uses understandable, consumer-friendly language to explode the myths and explore the genuine risks of genetic modification (GM) technology.
Some Representative Publications:
McHughen, A. 2008. Labeling Genetically Modified (GM) Foods. AgBiotech Communicators Group.
McHughen, A. 2008. Allergies and Genetically Engineered Foods. AgBiotech Communicators Group.
McHughen, A. 2008. How are biotech crop varieties regulated? AgBiotech Communicators Group.
McHughen, A. 2008. The science of fear, by Dan Gardner. Nature Biotechnology 26: 1226 (book review).
McHughen, A. 2008. Undermining scientific credibility. GENETIC ENGINEERING & BIOTECHNOLOGY NEWS Volume: 28 Issue:15 Pages 6-+ SEP 1 2008.
Beachy, Roger N., Nina V. Fedoroff, Robert B. Goldberg, and Alan McHughen. 2008. The burden of proof: A response to Rosi-Marshall et al. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. February 19, vol. 105 no. 7 E9.
Smyth, S. McHughen, A. 2008. Regulating innovative crop technologies in Canada: the case of regulating genetically modified crops. PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY JOURNAL Volume: 6 Issue: 3 Pages: 213-225 Published: APR 2008.
McHughen, A., Smyth, S. 2008. US regulatory system for genetically modified [genetically modified organism (GMO), rDNA or transgenic] crop cultivars. PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY JOURNAL Volume: 6 Issue: 1 Pages 2-12 Published: JAN 2008.
Chassy, B., Moses, V., McHughen, A., and Giddings, V. 2007. GM soybeans- revisiting a controversial format- Response. NATURE BIOTECHNOLOGY Volume:25 Issue: 12 Pages: 1356-1358 Published: DEC 2007.
McHughen, A. 2007. Fatal flaws in agbiotech regulatory policies. Nature Biotechnology. Vol. 25: p.725-727.
McHughen, A. 2007. Toppling the organic house of cards. Alex Avery. Nature Biotechnology. Vol. 25: p.522-523. (Book review)
Marshall, A. 2007. GM soybeans and health safety- a controversy reexamined. Nature Biotechnology. Vol. 25: p.981-987.
McHughen, A. 2007. Public perceptions of biotechnology. Biotechnology Journal. 2:1105-1111.
McHughen, A. 2006. Problems with the Cartagena Protocol. Asia Pacific Biotech. 10: 684-687.
McHughen, A. 2006. The limited value of measuring gene flow via errant pollen from GM plants. Environmental Biosafety Research. 5:1-2.
McHughen, A. 2006. Plant genetic engineering and regulation in the United States. Agricultural biotechnology in California series, University of California, ANR, publication 8179. 5p.
McHughen, A. 2006. Genetic engineering and testing methodologies. Agricultural biotechnology in California series, University of California, ANR, publication 8190. 5p.
Book chapters:
McHughen, A. 2008. Regulations and Biosafety. Pp 291-310. In: Neal Steward, ed. Plant Biotechnology and Genetics. Wiley.
McHughen, A. 2008. Learning from mistakes: missteps in public acceptance issue with GMOs. In: David, K. and Thompson, P.B. (eds) What Can Nanotechnology Learn From Biotechnology? Elsevier: Burlington, MA.
McHughen, A. 2007. Public Science in Liberal Democracy: The Challenge to Science and Democracy. Pp 194-204. In: Porter and Phillips, eds. University of Toronto Press.