Klaus Ammann

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Klaus Ammann (born 6 December 1940 in Bern, Switzerland) was Director of the Botanical Garden at the University of Bern, Switzerland until his retirement in February 2006. Ammann, together with John Beringer, Julian Kinderlerer, Alan McHughen and Mark Tepfer, founded the International Society for Biosafety Research (ISBR). Ammann is an editor of Environmental Biosafety Research, the journal published by the ISBR.

Studies and scientific work

  • studied at the University of Bern (Switzerland)
  • 1972: Dissertation about vegetation history
  • 1976: Reader at the Geobotanical Institute, Bern
  • 1996-2006: director of the Botanical Garden, University of Bern
  • 2003: Sabbatical at Missouri Botanical Garden, USA
  • 2006: retirement
  • 2006-07: visiting lecturer in biosafety and corporate ethics at Delft University of Technology[1]

Science4BioReg and Ask Force

At Delft University of Technology, Ammann was part of the Working Group on Biotechnology and Society, together with Piet van der Meer. The Public Research & Regulation Initiative (PRRI) Secretariat is hosted by the Delft University of Technology. PRRI describes its aim as being

to inform researchers, policymakers, regulators and the general public about public research in modern biotechnology. PRRI does this in various ways: producing briefing papers, organising seminars, and answering questions about public research in modern biotechnology.[2]

PRRI's EU Commission-funded project Science4BioReg is also located at Delft University of Technology. PRRI describes the aim of Science4BioReg as being to

inform and involve the public research sector in discussions on international agreements and regulations on biotechnology, and on the other it will inform policy makers, regulators and the general public about the objectives and progress in public research in agricultural biotechnology.[3]

Ammann is chair and coordinator of the Science4BioReg's Ask Force (2006-2009).[4] Ask Force is a collaborative initiative by PRRI and the European Federation of Biotechnology (EFB).[5]

This is how PRRI describes the role of the Ask Force on its website:

On this 'ASK-FORCE' page, PRRI discusses publications about biosafety and biotechnology that have gained much public attention but which are not supported by peer reviewed scientific research.[6]

Oddly enough, however, the examples quoted on the Ask Force page of publications which are supposedly "not supported by peer reviewed scientific research" are, in fact, supported by such research and in some cases are peer reviewed scientific research.

Examples listed by Ask Force include:

  • Do GM crops fail to produce more yields? (New)
  • Do GM crops pose a health risk to humans as Dona claims? (New)
  • Do GM potatoes with lectins harm rat organs as Pusztai claims?
  • Are rat organs damaged after feeding on GM soybeans as Ermakova claims?
  • Did Monsanto transgenic hybrid maize lower the fertility of mice in a multi generational feeding experiment?
  • Is the impact of Bt maize on non-target insects really significantly negative? (New)
  • Do aquatic organisms suffer from residues and protein of Bt maize?
  • Is Bt maize harmful to a larvae of the monarch butterfly?

The facts yielded by these papers and more, which show worrying effects of GM crops for farmers, the environment, and consumers, are summarised with full references in the GMWatch publication "Genetically Modified Foods: Renewed Threat to Europe".[7]

Affiliations

Membership of commissions and working groups

  • 1995-2007: Biosafety Committee of the Government of Switzerland[9]
  • GMO Expert Group European Commission Directorate General JRC - IPTS[10]
  • 2002: Steering Committee of PLANTA EUROPA[11]
  • former member of the Federal Expert Commission for Biosafety, Switzerland

As of June 2009:

  • Chairman European Group of Plant Specialists, IUCN[12]
  • member of the Schweizer National Fond
  • member of the Commission on Green Genetic Engineering of the Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities (Kommission Grüne Gentechnik der Union der deutschen Akademien der Wissenschaften)[13]

Participation in research projects

  • 1999-2004: member of the steering committee of AIGM - Assessment of the Impacts of Genetically Modified Plants[14]
  • 2004-08: EU project SIGMEA: Gene flow of maize in Europe
  • 2006-09: Ask Force and coordination of a scientific database.[15] Ask Force moderator for the PRRI and the EFB.[16]


Notes

  1. "Profile of Prof Klaus Ammann, EuropaBio website, accessed June 9 2009
  2. "Ask Force", PRRI website, accessed 9 June 2009
  3. "Science4BioReg", PRRI website, accessed 9 June 2009
  4. "Science4BioReg", PRRI website, accessed 9 June 2009
  5. "Ask Force", PRRI website, accessed 9 June 2009
  6. "Ask Force", PRRI website, accessed 9 June 2009
  7. Genetically Modified (GM) Foods: Renewed Threat to Europe, GMWatch, 2008, accessed 9 June 2009
  8. European Federation of Biotechnology Website About Us: Members, Accessed June 16th 2007
  9. "Prof. Dr. Klaus Ammann", European Federation of Biotechnology website, accessed 10 June 2009
  10. "Prof. Dr. Klaus Ammann", European Federation of Biotechnology website, accessed 10 June 2009
  11. "Prof. Dr. Klaus Ammann", European Federation of Biotechnology website, accessed 10 June 2009
  12. "Prof. Dr. Klaus Ammann", European Federation of Biotechnology website, accessed 10 June 2009
  13. "Actuelles", Union der deutschen Akademien der Wissenschaften website, accessed 10 June 2009
  14. "Assessment of the Impacts of Genetically Modified Plants (AIGM) Steering Committee", European Science Foundation website, accessed 16 June 2009
  15. "Science4BioReg", PRRI website, accessed16 June 2009
  16. "Launch of a new EFB-Forum: ASK-FORCE: Klaus Amman, Moderator", European Federation of Biotechnology website, accessed 16 June 2009