Prof. Don Huber, a plant pathologist and emeritus professor at Purdue University in Indiana, spent many years as an agricultural advisor to the US government. In January 2011, he warned the US Department of Agriculture about the consequences of GM seed (such as soya or maize)

which is marketed in combination with specific herbicides: for example, Monsanto’s “Roundup Ready” seed, designed to be used with the company’s “Roundup” herbicide. According to Prof. Huber, broad-spectrum herbicides such as Roundup mix the active ingredient – glyphosate – with substances which “significantly impact the health of plants, animals and people”.

The researcher warns of the dramatic impacts of the use of glyphosate, which he believes could ultimately lead to “a collapse of agriculture”.

“When you realise that agriculture is a system and not just a pile of bricks that fit together, you have to understand how this system functions. Think about the fact that every time we change one part of the system, we’re also changing the interactions between every other component. For the last 55 years, my research has been dedicated to the task of illuminating these changes”.