The enrichment of staple food crops with essential micronutrients, known as biofortification, is a controversial topic due to its combination of transgenic research, centralized scientific knowledge generation and a model of ‘public goods’ to be disseminated internationally. In this book, Brooks calls for an appraisal of what this model of global science can entail for future technological pathways. She puts forward her case through a careful examination of two projects and an overarching research structure to fulfil the aspirations of biofortification as a means to tackle malnutrition, known as ‘hidden hunger’ in international policy circles.

As the subtitle of the volume states, the purpose is to offer an analysis of situations that might provide a learning opportunity to improve similar efforts in the future. The volume builds up to the lessons by providing detailed descriptions of two different projects to biofortify rice – one with iron and another with Vitamin A – and an overarching mechanism to coordinate various biofortification projects. Each of these examinations is carried out with references to interviews of key actors, descriptions and photographs, as well as revision of documents and press releases. The result is a thorough account of steps taken, funding applications, difficult situations, organizational arrangements and experiments carried out.

One key aspect of the volume is that it makes evident the difficulties of interdisciplinary work, as was observed in the teams studied. By combining nutrition, plant sciences and health, these projects required an ongoing communication among specialists who do not share jargon, references or usual practices of data gathering or analysis. The role played by a few experts, therefore, seems to tilt the balance of the decision-making power structures of the project. The reason for this may lie in the increased attention received by initial exploratory studies, which in turn intensified the pressure to achieve results and deliverable products. Funders and politicians appealed to the urgency of dealing with malnutrition as a cost-effective public health intervention and the projects became increasingly managed in an executive style.

Among the difficulties of scientific research for this type of approach, however, is the fact that results cannot be anticipated. The implications of this simple fact for a large project with built-in expectations are clearly shown in this volume as a process of miscarried ‘black boxing’. This latter term, taken from Latour, means to take as a given a technology that has proven to be successful, thus making it unnecessary to know its inner workings. Brooks describes how on different occasions scientists preferred, or were instructed, to skip a few steps and were trusted to fill in the blanks later on. This sort of executive approach to scientific research has clear disadvantages, especially in terms of limiting the ability of scientists involved to consider the alternatives to encountered problems. While it may have served a provisional PR purpose, it could not hide the delay in obtaining the anticipated results.

One of Brooks’ key arguments is that the silver bullet approach seems flawed from the start, by seeking a universal solution for very different situations thus ignoring the end-consumers, with their cultural contexts, habits and expectations. The idea behind generating an international public good that can be disseminated for adaption and adoption in various places is a top-down process that dismisses local knowledge and experience. Her analysis, however, is not disparaging but rather conciliatory. By explaining the pros and cons of various situations, the reader can understand the tensions and potentials within an innovative field.

Through a well-documented revision, the author explains the evolution of ideas that brought together nutrition, health care and agriculture over the twentieth century. Her mapping of relevant actors in this field deals with the rise of the new philanthropists in global health issues. In particular, she describes how the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has entered the global arena with substantial resources and an agenda set on ‘accountable impact’.

The three lessons that this volume offers policymakers, scientists and philanthropists who desire to engage in this arena are: (1) a need to engage users, because some of the developments seemed to forget what the product was for; (2) rethinking upstream–downstream relations, as some experiences showed that in effect a more equal relation between research groups can prove extremely positive; and (3) a reappraisal of ‘public goods’ science, as apparent consensus may hide doubts and beneficial criticism. In all cases, there are potentially positive paths to follow. If the purpose is to use scientific knowledge, Brooks argues, project design should not frustrate or restrict open and rigorous enquiry.