Open letter about 'GM' from certain UK scientists to HM Government - at the end of the letter we have given background on the scientists. With this bunch, we could have gone on till Xmas!
Prof Burke told The Times they represented a wide cross-section of the scientific community and The Times said they were '114 eminent scientists'. Decide for yourself.
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From Professor Derek Burke and others
The Right Honourable Tony Blair MP
10 Downing Street
London SW1A 2AS
CC: The Right Honourable Margaret Beckett MP
DEFRA, Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR
The Right Honourable Patricia Hewitt MP
DTI, 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET
Mr Nigel Griffiths MP
DTI, 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET
30th October 2003
Dear Prime Minister
The results of the Farm Scale Evaluations of three GM crops announced on 16th October were reported across the media as "the end of GM in the UK". In fact the FSEs did not assess the effects of genetically modifying the crops, but rather the impact of different types of weed control. They had little to do with genetic modification, its processes or potential.
However the government's reaction to the latest misleading reports on GM was to remain silent. Since 1999, the government has sponsored several protracted deliberations on GM but has consistently neglected opportunities to address any of the unsubstantiated assertions about the process of genetic modification and possible risks.
We feel you should be aware of the consequences of this ongoing failure to respond and to give a lead:
1. Demoralisation
Some scientists are leaving the UK, but many more are thoroughly demoralised by hostility to the work they do, which is continually misrepresented and even sabotaged. This is despite the new scientific opportunities afforded by developments like genomics. Those who have contributed many hours to public communication and government-sponsored deliberations feel undermined by the government's failure to contradict false claims about 'Frankenfoods', health risks and 'superweeds'.
2. Declining contribution to scientific development Work on the basic science of genetic engineering and its applications to plants is being scaled down. This will inhibit our ability to contribute to scientific knowledge internationally, and to meet challenges like yield improvement, drought tolerance and reduced reliance on pesticides.
The government's many initiatives in this prolonged deliberation on GM crops have been structured in a way that makes it impossible to clarify the nature of the scientific work or its opportunities. Genetic engineering of plants has been reduced to a matter of consumer preference; the public has been misinformed; and the efforts of scientists to communicate about genetic engineering have been misused.
For those of us who have spent our lives 'doing research, publishing research and teaching research' in the UK, it is distressing to experience such a backward slide; for others of us, and our students just starting out, it is deeply discouraging. More importantly, for society as a whole, if the same framework is applied in future decision-making, we risk seeing other technologies lose out to prejudice and procrastination.
Yours sincerely
Professor Derek C. Burke Professor and Vice-Chancellor of the University of East Anglia (1987-1995) Chairman ACNFP (1987-1997) [While Vice Chancellor of UEA was also a member of the governing council of the John Innes Centre (JIC). Both institutions have benefited from investment in GM research, with the JIC enjoying multi-million pound investments from biotechnology corporations like Syngenta and Dupont. Until 1998 was director of Genome Research Ltd. In the 80s worked for another biotech company - Allelix Inc - in Toronto. ]
Professor Michael Akam FRS Professor of Zoology; Director, University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge
Dr Denis R. Alexander Molecular Immunologist, St Edmund's College, Cambridge
Dr John Andralojc Senior Research Scientist, Crop Performance & Improvement Division, Rothamsted Research [Rothamsted's website lists Aventis, DuPont , Novartis and Syngenta, as among Rothamsted's 'partners']
Professor Michael Ashburner FRS Professor of Biology, University of Cambridge
Professor Janet M. Bainbridge One North East Science and Industry Council; EPSRC Council (1999-2003); Chairman, Foresight Debate in the Food Chain Taskforce (2000-2001); Chairman ACNFP (1997-2003) [famously said the public should not be involved in decision making about GM any more than a child about when to cross the road]
Dr Jacqueline H. A. Barker Senior Research Scientist, Crop performance and Improvement Division, Rothamsted Research [Rothamsted's website lists Aventis, DuPont , Novartis and Syngenta, as among Rothamsted's 'partners']
Professor David Baulcombe FRS Senior Scientist, The Sainsbury Laboratory, Norwich [famously made false claims about EPA research showing major benefits from GM for biodiversity - subsequently admitted the research in question did not exist]
Dr Mike Bayliss Plant Scientist; Independent Consultant
Professor Sir Colin Berry Professor Emeritus of Pathology, Queen Mary, London; formerly Chairman, Advisory Committee on Pesticides
Professor Michael Bevan Professor, University of East Anglia; Head, Cell and Developmental Biology Department, John Innes Centre, Norwich [JIC has had tens of millions in investment from the biotech giants like Syngenta]
Dr Tim Bliss FRS Division of Neurophysiology, National Institute for Medical Research
Professor Paul Bolwell Professor of Plant Biochemistry, Royal Holloway, University of London
Professor Donald Boulter Emeritus Professor, School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, University of Durham
Professor Peter Bramley Director of Research, School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London
Dr Mark S. Bretscher FRS Senior Scientist, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge
Mr Graham Brookes Agricultural Economist, Brookes West Research [partner in a private consultancy that pumps out pro-GM agronomic reports, mostly for the biotech industry]
Professor Mike Burrell Animal and Plant Sciences, Sheffield University
Dr Geoff Butcher Principal Research Fellow (semi-retired), Department of Biological Sciences, Imperial College, London
Professor Chris Calladine FRS Emeritus Professor, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge; Co-author of "Understanding DNA: the molecule and how it works", 1992
Professor Peter N. Campbell Emeritus Professor of Biochemistry, University College London
Mr Mark Cantley Former Head, Biotechnology Unit, Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry, OECD [According to Cantley, GMOs are nothing new except that they involve greater knowledge and precision. 'Pretending "GMO" means something special - for seeds, vaccines, enzymes, pesticides, etc - is daft,' he has written. He's also a big fan of Bjorn Lomborg whom he has compared to Socrates!]
Dr John P. Carr Senior Lecturer (Investigation of Plant-Virus Interactions), Plant Sciences Department, University of Cambridge
Professor Rod Casey Plant Molecular Biologist, Management Board, John Innes Centre, Norwich [JIC has had tens of millions in investment from the biotech giants like Syngenta]
Dr Andrew Cockburn Fl Biol Registered Toxicologist; Director Scientific Affairs Europe/Africa, Monsanto; Visiting Professor, Dept. of Agricultural & Environmental Science, University of Newcastle [the disinterested man who got to write the safety review part of the UK's GM science review]
Dr Claire E. Cockcroft Co-Director, Masters in Bioscience Enterprise; Branco Weiss Society in Science Fellow, Institute of Biotechnology, University of Cambridge
Professor Edward Cocking FRS Plant Sciences, University of Nottingham
Professor David J. Cove Emeritus Professor of Genetics, University of Leeds; Clark Way Harrison Professor, Washington University, St. Louis, USA
Professor John Cummings Professor of Experimental Gastroenterology, University of Dundee
Professor Chris F. Curtis Professor of Medical Entomology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Professor Philip Dale Leader of the Genetic Modification and Biosafety Research Group, John Innes Centre, Norwich [was a member of the GM Debate Steering Board so it's a bit late now to jump up and attack the public debate he presided over. JIC has had tens of millions in investment from the biotech giants like Syngenta]
Dr Edward C. Dart CBE FI Biol Chairman, Plant Bioscience Ltd, (former R&D Director of Zeneca Seeds) [was part of the biotech company Adprotech which Peter Lachmann helped to found - see below. Plant Bioscience Ltd runs the IPR spin offs for the JIC]
Professor Kay E. Davies Head of Department, Human Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford
Professor Caroline Dean Associate Research Director, John Innes Centre, Norwich [JIC has had tens of millions in investment from the biotech giants like Syngenta]
Dr Alan M. Dewar Senior Entomologist, Broom's Barn Research Station, Suffolk [has done research funded by Monsanto and AgrEvo; facilitated Monsanto press tours of his research pre-publication]
Professor Ray Dixon FRS Department of Molecular Microbiology, John Innes Centre, Norwich [JIC has had tens of millions in investment from the biotech giants like Syngenta]
Professor Allan Downie Molecular Microbiology Department, John Innes Centre, Norwich [JIC has had tens of millions in investment from the biotech giants like Syngenta]
Professor Malcolm Elliott Director, The Norman Borlaug Institute for Plant Science Research, Leicester
Professor Reginald J. Ellis FRS Emeritus Professor, Department of Biological Sciences (chloroplast biogenesis, plant biochemistry) University of Warwick, Coventry
Professor Michael W. Elves Formerly Director of Scientific and Educational Affairs, Glaxo Wellcome plc
Professor Martin Evans Professor of Mammalian Genetics; Director of the Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University
Professor Sir Alan Fersht FRS Herchel Smith Professor of Organic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge
Dr Elaine Fitches Biological Sciences, University of Durham
Professor Mike Gale FRS Emeritus Fellow, John Innes Centre, Norwich [when JIC Acting Director Gale said any serious slow down or moratorium on GM would be financially disastrous for the JIC]
Dr Angharad Gatehouse Reader in Invertebrate Molecular Biology, University of Newcastle [wife of John - see below - has compared scientists publishing research critical of GMOs to 'ambulance chasers']
Dr John Gatehouse Reader in Biological Sciences, University of Durham [the biotechnologist who genetically engineered the lectins into Pusztai's potatoes and never forgave him for exposing the consequences]
Dr Ruth Gordon-Weeks Senior Research Scientist, Biological Chemistry Division, Rothamsted Research [Rothamsted's website lists Aventis, DuPont , Novartis and Syngenta, as among Rothamsted's 'partners']
Professor Alan Gray Retired Director CEH Dorset; Retired Chair ACRE [his resignation was called for by Bristol University scientists concerned at the way in which he had approved a GM maize crop and the conflict of interest in his reviewing the approval he had made]
Professor Don Grierson OBE, FRS Pro-Vice-Chancellor, University of Nottingham
Dr Nigel Halford Programme Leader, Assimiliate Partitioning, Rothamsted Research [part of biotech-industry funded lobby group CropGen]
Dr Wendy Harwood Group Leader, Crop Genetics Department, John Innes Centre, Norwich [JIC has had tens of millions in investment from the biotech giants like Syngenta]
Professor Chris Hawes Director, Research School of Biological & Molecular Sciences, Oxford Brookes University; Vice-President, Royal Microscopical Society
Professor Sir Brian Heap FRS Master, St Edmund's College, Cambridge [chairs the pro-GM lobby group Sense about Science's Working Party on peer review. Was in the thick of the Royal Society attacks on Pusztai]
Professor Peter Hedden Programme Leader, Signalling & Development, Rothamsted Research [Rothamsted's website lists Aventis, DuPont , Novartis and Syngenta, as among Rothamsted's 'partners']
Professor Sir David Hopwood FRS Emeritus Professor of Genetics, University of East Anglia; Emeritus Fellow, John Innes Centre, Norwich [JIC has had tens of millions in investment from the biotech giants like Syngenta]
Dr Roger Hull Emeritus Fellow, John Innes Centre, Norwich (molecular plant virology, biosafety risk assessment, developing countries) [JIC has had tens of millions in investment from the biotech giants like Syngenta]
Dr Tim Hunt FRS ICRF Clare Hall Laboratories
Mr Yousouf Ismael Research Fellow, University of Reading
Professor David J. James Emeritus Fellow, Horticulture Research International, Wellesbourne [HRI directed by Mike Wilson - see below]
Professor Jonathan D. G. Jones FRS Head, Sainsbury Laboratory, John Innes Centre, Norwich [famously claimed crop dusters had been put out of business by GM crops but when challenged admitted it was just something he'd read in a newspaper!]
Professor Michael J. Kearsey School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham
Professor Julian Kinderlerer Sheffield Institute of Biotechnological Law and Ethics, University of Sheffield [formerly on ACRE]
Professor Sir Peter Lachmann FRS Emeritus Professor of Immunology, University of Cambridge; Biological Secretary, Royal Society (1993-1998); President Academy of Medical Sciences (1998- 2002) [reportedly tried to threaten the editor of The Lancet into not publishing Pusztai's research]
Professor Chris Lamb Director, John Innes Centre, Norwich [also co-founded the plant biotech firm, Akkadix]
Dr David J. Leader Senior Research Scientist, Rothamsted Research [Rothamsted's website lists Aventis, DuPont , Novartis and Syngenta, as among Rothamsted's 'partners']
Professor Christopher J. Leaver CBE,FRS,FRSE Sibthorpian Professor of Plant Science, Head of Department of Plant Science, University of Oxford [until last year a consultant to Syngenta]
Professor Roger A. Leigh Professor of Botany, University of Cambridge
Professor Conrad Lichtenstein Chair of Molecular Biology, Queen Mary College, London [part of biotech-industry funded lobby group CropGen]
Professor Michael Lipton The Poverty Research Unit, University of Sussex [said NGOs who opposed 'golden rice' should have their charitable status removed]
Dr Martin Livermore Plant Scientist; Independent Consultant [This 'plant scientist' is surely not 'Dr' but 'Mr' Martin Livermore. Rather than earning his living as a plant scientist, Mr Livermore is a former PR flack for GM firm DuPont, who now has own agri-food PR consultancy Ascham Associates/also part of the anti-environmental Scientific Alliance]
Dr Robin Lovell-Badge FRS Head of Division of Developmental Genetics, MRC National Institute for Medical Research, London
Dr Peter J.W. Lutman Head of Weed Ecology Group, Rothamsted Research [part of biotech-industry funded lobby group CropGen]
Professor Julian Ma Hotung Chair of Molecular Immunology, St. George's Hospital Medical School, London [mate of Lachmann's and Ogilvie's]
Dr Bill Macfarlane Smith Former plant breeder and geneticist, Scottish Crop Research Institute; Managing Director, Biomac Consultancy Ltd [part of biotech-industry funded lobby group CropGen]
Professor John MacLeod Formerly Director of NIAB, Cambridge; past member ACRE
Professor Alan Malcolm Chief Executive, Institute of Biology
Professor Anthony Maxwell Head, Department of Biological Chemistry, John Innes Centre, Norwich [JIC has had tens of millions in investment from the biotech giants like Syngenta]
Mr Mike J. May Deputy Director, Broom's Barn Research Station, Suffolk [Alan Dewar's 'partner in crime' - see above]
Professor Simon McQueen-Mason Chair in Materials Biology, CNAP, Department of Biology, University of York
Professor Nicholas A. Mitchison FRS Professor of Immunology, University College, London (Expert on mutation and natural selection of immunological genes)
Dr Stephen Morse Applied Biologist; Reader in Development Studies, Department of Geography, University of Reading
Professor Bevan Moseley Member, ACNFP (1988-1999); Member, EC Scientific Committee on Food (1997-2003)
Professor Vivian Moses Department of Life Sciences, King's College, London [chair of biotech-industry funded lobby group CropGen]
Dr Phil Mullineaux Institute of Food Research, John Innes Centre, Norwich [has done research for Monsanto]
Professor Denis J. Murphy Head, Biotechnology Unit, University of Glamorgan [Once said "Monsanto et al commercialised the technology at breakneck speed [with] no thought about the long term consequences" - seems to have changed his mind since. called on campaigners to get involved in the public debate - has obviously changed his mind!]
Dr Jim Murray Reader in Biotechnology, Institute of Biotechnology, University of Cambridge
Professor Sir Kenneth Murray FRS Formerly Biogen Professor of Molecular Biology, University of Edinburgh [co-founder of the first European based biotech company, Biogen]
Professor Noreen E. Murray FRS Emeritus Professor of Molecular Genetics, University of Edinburgh [ helped found Biogen - wife of Sir Ken above; chair of the Royal Society group that oversaw the notorious review of Pusztai's work]
Professor Dame Bridget Ogilvie FRS Vice Chairman, Sense about Science; Visiting Professor, University College, London [Vice Chair of notorious pro-GM lobby group Sense About Science who organised this letter]
Dr John Ollerenshaw Head of the School of Biology, University of Newcastle
Dr Matthew J. Paul Assimilate Partitioning, Rothamsted Research [Rothamsted's website lists Aventis, DuPont , Novartis and Syngenta, as among Rothamsted's 'partners']
Professor Sir Keith Peters FRS Regius Professor of Physic, University of Cambridge
Dr Richard Phipps Principal Research Fellow, University of Reading
Dr John Pidgeon Director, Broom's Barn Research Station, Suffolk [connects to Rothamsted - see above]
Dr Guy Poppy ARCS, DPhil, C.Biol, F.I.Biol Reader in Ecology, Head of Biodiversity & Ecology Division, University of Southampton [part of biotech-industry funded lobby group CropGen]
Professor Jack Pridham Plant Biochemist, Emeritus Professor of Biochemistry, Royal Holloway, University of London
Professor W. Paul Quick Department of Animal & Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield
Dr Stephen Rawsthorne Associate Head, Department of Metabolic Biology, John Innes Centre, Norwich [JIC has had tens of millions in investment from the biotech giants like Syngenta]
Dr Matt Ridley Author 'Genome'; Chairman, Centre for Life, Newcastle [extreme right wing columnist for Daily Telegraph for many years]
Professor Keith Roberts Plant Cell Biologist, Department Cell and Developmental Biology, John Innes Centre, Norwich [JIC has had tens of millions in investment from the biotech giants like Syngenta]
Professor Willie Russell FRSE Emeritus Research Professor, University of St Andrews
Professor J. Howard Slater Business Fellow, University of Exeter; Chief Executive Officer, BioElf Ltd [was part of biotech-industry funded lobby group CropGen]
Professor John W. Snape Head of Crop Genetics, John Innes Centre, Norwich [JIC has had tens of millions in investment from the biotech giants like Syngenta]
Professor Philip Stott Emeritus Professor, University of London; Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Biogeography [notorious anti-green/climate change denier. According to Stott, GE is the "finest of all human adaptations". "Boiling a kettle is a dangerous task; yet it produces that refreshing cup of tea. Biotechnology is no different."]
Sir Richard Sykes FRS Rector of Imperial College, London
Dr Mark Tester Senior lecturer, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge [key player in the spin campaign to rubbish the BBC's thriller on GM, 'Fields of Gold']
Professor Brian Thomas Head of Crop Improvement and Biotechnology, Horticulture Research International, Wellesbourne [see Mike Wilson, head of HRI, below]
Professor Anthony Trewavas FRS Academia Europea; Professor in Plant Biochemistry, University of Edinburgh [famously claimed opponents of GM are interested solely "in destroying US agribusiness". advised US scientists to enlist the likes of the racist US congressmen Jesse Helms by alerting them "that a subversive organisation directed from Europe is attempting to destroy US agriculture and US farming."]
Professor Lord Leslie Turnberg House of Lords
Dr Roger Turner Chief Executive, British Society of Plant Breeders [famously said he had no reservations about GM at all; gets a pension from Rhone Poulenc]
Professor Mike Wilson Chief Executive, Horticulture Research International, Wellesbourne [consultant to Lord Sainsbury's GM investment company Diatech; an advisory board member of the anti-environmental Scientific Alliance; notorious for his aggressive and inaccurate attacks on GM critics]
Professor Lord Robert Winston Professor of Fertility Studies, Imperial College; Director of NHS Research and development, Hammersmith Hospitals Trust [the fertility specialist and TV scientist who regularly sounds off about GM]
Dr Greg Winter FRS CBE Joint Head, Division of Protein & Nucleic Acid Chemistry, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology
Professor Lewis Wolpert FRS CBE Professor of Biology as Applied to Medicine, Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Royal Free and University College Medical School, London [denies scientists have any ethical responsibility whatsoever for any of the consequences/applications of their work]
This letter has been signed by the 114 individuals above in a personal capacity and not on behalf of their institutions or funding bodies.