Dr. Jonathan Javitt is a physician who was appointed by President George W. Bush to a presidential technology advisory committee in 2003. And now, he’s also a novelist, debuting with the thriller CAPITOL REFLECTIONS, which takes a look at the potential dangers that arise with genetically modified food, and may affect how you view your next trip to the grocery store or coffee shop!
BOOKGASM: You don’t see many doctors and scientists taking time to write novels, so what prompted you?
JAVITT: The project began on New Year’s morning, 2004, as I was making myself a cup of cappuccino. I have always been a thriller addict, and ideas for great thrillers have popped into my head from time to time. This one grabbed me by the throat and compelled me to write it.
BOOKGASM: How much of your book is based in fact?
JAVITT: As the afterword of the book says, it’s entirely a work of fiction. The names of some of the good guys are appropriated from friends of mine. The scientists who uncover the conspiracy and the methods they use are definitely based on people I have known and worked with much of my career. In fact, the inspiration for Gwen is, in part, based on the FDA scientist who singlehandedly stopped Thalidomide from entering the U.S., at grave peril to her career. The bad guys, however, are not based on any living person. That said, I believe that with sufficient greed and lack of morality, someone could perpetrate a conspiracy along the lines of CAPITOL REFLECTIONS.
BOOKGASM: What is your personal take on bio-engineered foods? Dangerous or not?
JAVITT: In general, bio-engineered foods have led the way to better crop yields, tastier and more nutritious fruits and vegetables, produce with longer shelf life, and other benefits to producers and consumers of America’s harvest. At the same time, Congress never imagined the potential for genetic modification when our food safety laws were originally enacted. Therefore, submitting genetically modified foods to FDA for safety review is driven more by voluntary agreement between producers and FDA than it is by regulatory law.
BOOKGASM: Is it really possible for food to be engineered in such a way as to make it more addictive and to make us unwittingly more hungry for it?
JAVITT: There’s no question than an addictive substance could be engineered into a food. I have long suspected the world’s chocolate manufacturers of doing just that — only kidding. The question is not whether it could be done. The question, as in all thrillers, is whether someone will be sufficiently motivated by greed and avarice to do it. Probably the most addicting food additive today is sugar. Over the last 40 years, it has found its way into numerous foods — from bread to French fries — that never contained sugar before the advent of fast-food chains.
BOOKGASM: CAPITOL REFLECTIONS implies that food corporations have perhaps an undue amount of influence in our government, or even use underhanded or illegal methods to consolidate their positions. Is that story element based on your experience in Washington?
JAVITT: Absolutely not. The element inherent in many good thrillers is the notion that a perfectly ordinary, upstanding enterprise — John Grisham made his fame with a law firm and Robin Cook with a hospital — that people use and trust every day is actually a front for a nefarious conspiracy. The people whom I have met in America’s food industry are as honest and ethical as those in any other major industry. That said, any industry that forgets to put its long-term interests and reputation ahead of its short-term desire for profits is ripe for malfeasance of one sort or another.
OTHER RECENT BOOKGASM AUTHOR INTERVIEWS:
• Q&A with THE NEW ANNOTATED DRACULA’s Leslie S. Klinger
• Q&A with SKELETON CREEK’s Patrick Carman
• Q&A with Underland Press’ Victoria Blake
