8-Misc: New GE promoting group founded in UK

[GENETNL <genetnl@xs4all.be>]

----------------------------- GENET-news -----------------------------

TITLE:  Bio-crop technology to get new voice in UK
SOURCE: Reuters
DATE:   February 25, 2000

-------------------- archive: http://www.gene.ch/ --------------------


Bio-crop technology to get new voice in UK

LONDON - A new initiative, CropGen, will be launched today to make 
the case for crop biotechnology and help achieve a more balanced 
debate about genetically modified (GM) crops in the UK. A CropGen 
release said it "... will make the case for crop biotechnology, not 
the biotechnology industry."

It will comprise a panel of scientists and specialists on 
agriculture, plant science, microbiology, ecology and consumer 
affairs which will provide information for the public, interest 
groups and the media. The panel will be able to give a perspective on 
key issues in the GM crop debate - human health, environmental impact 
and the benefits versus the risks. The panel's chairman is Vivian 
Moses, Visiting Professor of Biotechnology, King's College, London.

"CropGen's challenge is to explain the current and future benefits of 
GM crops and to set any possible risks they might present in 
context," he said. CropGen will be funded initially by a consortium 
of biotechnology companies but the panel will be independent. The 
sponsors include Aventis Crop Science, Dow AgroSciences, Monsanto and 
Novartis Seeds. But CropGen said the companies have signed an 
undertaking that they cannot veto any of the scientific positions 
taken by the panel.

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