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As science correspondent, Ghosh has broken several important stories, notably the cloned [[Dolly the sheep]] having [[arthritis]], and the abandonment of the construction of a primate research centre by [[Cambridge University]] because of fears of attacks from [[animal rights]] activists.
==Reporting==
Ghosh's reporting of GM crops has caused controversy. In 2003 he reported that farmers in India were cross-breeding [[Monsanto Company]]'s GM [[cotton]] with their own local varieties. The Monsanto variety was unsuited to the local weather conditions and had performed badly in the previous harvest. The Indian Government had already set up an expert panel that concluded that Monsanto's GM cotton was "unfit for cultivation and should be banned". It was claimed by local manufacturers that the home-produced variety was more robust, and local farmers were hopeful that they would be able to improve crop yieds without paying Monsanto's higher prices. Ghosh reported, however that the home grown product if anything seemed to perform even less well.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2998150.stm |title=India's GM seed piracy |author=Ghosh, Pallab |date=17 June, 2003 |work=BBC News |accessdate=2008-03-27}}
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===Protato===
Another report from India by Ghosh was about the GM "protato", a [[potato]] genetically modified to produce increased [[protein]]. The item reported claims by the head of the Indian Government's head of [[Biotechnology]], Dr Manju Sharma that she was "very confident" that the GM potato was "expected to be approved in India within six months."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2980338.stm |title=India 'to approve GM potato'
|author=Ghosh, Pallab |date=11 June, 2003 |work=BBC News |accessdate=2008-03-27}}</ref> This was at odds with Indian press reports that "no request has so far been received from developers for field trials or commercialisation of GM potato and... it cannot be approved in the current year."{{Fact|date=March 2008}}
The key claim by the creators of the protato was about its potential to counter [[malnutrition]]. Pallab reported skeptical views about the need for the protato, and pointed out that [[lentil]]s in the form of ''[[dal]]'' already provided a cheap and widely accepted protein-rich foodstuff. The Indian press also questioned the claims in March 2003. The publicity generated by Ghosh's report has caused irritation even amongst pro-GM scientists in India.{{Fact|date=March 2008}} Prof. C. Kameswara Rao calls the GM potato a "dismal product" and points out that, far from being approved within months, the protato is "unlikely to see the light of the day in this decade."{{Fact|date=March 2008}}
===GM and the BMA===
In 2003 Ghosh reported that the Science Board of the [[British Medical Association]] (BMA) was reviewing the organisation's precautionary approach to GM crops and food.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2494267.stm |title=Doctors want GM crop ban |author=Ghosh, Pallab |date=20 November, 2002 |work=BBC News |accessdate=2008-03-27}}</ref> There was particular concern that the [[Zambia]]n Government had cited the BMA's advice, that health risks could not be ruled out, as part of the reason it had turned away much needed grain shipments during a food shortage.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2711801.stm |title=Doctors review GM crop evidence |date=31 January, 2003 |work=BBC News |accessdate=2008-03-27}}</ref> The BMA issued a press release the same day quoting its spokesperson Vivienne Nathanson, which stated that the BBC report was "wrong" and "totally incorrect."{{Fact|date=March 2008}} The following year The BMA admitted it had indeed reviewed its stance on GM crops, and decided that new research suggested that GM crops posed no health risk.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3545717.stm |title=UK doctors alter tack to back GMs |author=Kirby, Alex |date=9 March, 2004 |work=BBC News |accessdate=2008-03-27}}</ref> The BMA has repeatedly said that at the time of Ghosh's report it had not changed its policy and had no plans to do so.{{Fact|date=March 2008}}
===Árpád Pusztai===
In 1999 Ghosh also reported critically on Dr [[Árpád Pusztai]]'s work on the possible health effects of GM potatoes. This is what Dr Pusztai had to say about Ghosh's coverage: "[he] came up to Aberdeen after the [[Royal Society]] and the Science and Technology Committee's sitting [in 1999], and he was all smiles and extremely accommodating, but when the interview went out on the BBC he twisted everything out of context. So much so that I decided not to have anything more to do with the BBC."{{Fact|date=March 2008}} Dr Pusztai's work was also dismissed as "flawed" by an independent scientific review panel.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/346826.stm |title=GM Food report condemned as flawed |date=May 18, 1999 |work=BBC News |accessdate=2008-03-27}}</ref>
==Leadership==
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