Uncompromising? Aggressive? Likely to ruffle feathers? Yes -- but justified in the face of the virtual annihilation of entire areas of research and development, disuse of a critical technology, further disenfranchisement of poor countries, and disruption of free trade.

Let's get public policy out of The Twilight Zone before it's too late. (Cue Twilight Zone theme music.)

Henry I. Miller, a fellow at the Hoover Institution, was the founding director of the Office of Biotechnology at the FDA, 1989-1993. He is an advisor to the U.S. delegation to the Codex task force on biotech foods. Barron's selected his most recent book, "The Frankenfood Myth," as one of the 25 Best Books of 2004.