Difference between revisions of "Klaus Ammann"

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(Appeals and petitions)
(Participation in lobby organisations)
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* founder and member of the Publications Committee of the International Society for Biosafety Research (ISBR)<ref>[http://www.isbr.info/standing/ Standing Committees of the ISBR], International Society for Biosafety Research website, accessed 17 June 2009</ref>
 
* founder and member of the Publications Committee of the International Society for Biosafety Research (ISBR)<ref>[http://www.isbr.info/standing/ Standing Committees of the ISBR], International Society for Biosafety Research website, accessed 17 June 2009</ref>
 
* member of the [[European Science Foundation]] (ESF) and steering committee member of the project Assessment of Genetically Modified Plants (AIGM)<ref>[http://www.esf.org/activities/research-networking-programmes/life-earth-and-environmental-sciences-lesc/completed-esf-research-networking-programmes-in-life-earth-and-environmental-sciences/assessment-of-the-impacts-of-genetically-modified-plants-aigm/steering-committee.html Assessment of the Impacts of Genetically Modified Plants (AIGM) Steering Committee], European Science Foundation website, accessed 17 June 2009</ref>
 
* member of the [[European Science Foundation]] (ESF) and steering committee member of the project Assessment of Genetically Modified Plants (AIGM)<ref>[http://www.esf.org/activities/research-networking-programmes/life-earth-and-environmental-sciences-lesc/completed-esf-research-networking-programmes-in-life-earth-and-environmental-sciences/assessment-of-the-impacts-of-genetically-modified-plants-aigm/steering-committee.html Assessment of the Impacts of Genetically Modified Plants (AIGM) Steering Committee], European Science Foundation website, accessed 17 June 2009</ref>
* Board member of [[Gensuisse]],<ref>[http://www.gensuisse.ch/gensuisse/members.html#par1 Stiftungsrat], Gensuisse website, accessed 17 June 2009</ref> a lobby organisation founded by the pharmaceutical industry to promote genetic engineering, together with representatives of [[Monsanto]] and [[Syngenta]], among others.
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* board member of [[Gensuisse]],<ref>[http://www.gensuisse.ch/gensuisse/members.html#par1 Stiftungsrat], Gensuisse website, accessed 17 June 2009</ref> a lobby organisation founded by the pharmaceutical industry to promote genetic engineering, together with representatives of [[Monsanto]] and [[Syngenta]], among others.
 
* member of the advisory board of [[InterNutrition]],<ref>[http://www.internutrition.ch/internutrition/who/advisory.html Expertenbeirat], InterNutrition website, accessed 28 June 2009</ref> a Swiss body which promotes genetic engineering. Among others the following companies and organisations are given as members of InterNutrition: [[Föderation der Schweiz]], [[Nahrungsmittel-Industrien]] (FIAL), [[Hoffmann-La Roche]] AG, [[Monsanto]], [[Nestlé]] Suisse S.A., [[Novartis]], [[Novo Nordisk]] Ferment Ltd. and [[Unilever]]-Lipton Sais.
 
* member of the advisory board of [[InterNutrition]],<ref>[http://www.internutrition.ch/internutrition/who/advisory.html Expertenbeirat], InterNutrition website, accessed 28 June 2009</ref> a Swiss body which promotes genetic engineering. Among others the following companies and organisations are given as members of InterNutrition: [[Föderation der Schweiz]], [[Nahrungsmittel-Industrien]] (FIAL), [[Hoffmann-La Roche]] AG, [[Monsanto]], [[Nestlé]] Suisse S.A., [[Novartis]], [[Novo Nordisk]] Ferment Ltd. and [[Unilever]]-Lipton Sais.
 
* 2004-06: board member of [[Africa Harvest]],<ref>[http://www.monsanto.com/biotech-gmo/asp/experts.asp?id=KlausAmmann Conversations about plant biotechnology: Dr. Klaus Ammann], Monsanto website, accessed 28 June 2009</ref> a US lobby organisation to promote the introduction of GM crops, founded by [[Florence Wambugu]]. Advisory board member of the African Technology Development Forum.<ref>[http://www.atdforum.org/spip.php?page=atdf_advisors ATDF advisory panel], ADTF website, accessed 28 June 2009</ref>
 
* 2004-06: board member of [[Africa Harvest]],<ref>[http://www.monsanto.com/biotech-gmo/asp/experts.asp?id=KlausAmmann Conversations about plant biotechnology: Dr. Klaus Ammann], Monsanto website, accessed 28 June 2009</ref> a US lobby organisation to promote the introduction of GM crops, founded by [[Florence Wambugu]]. Advisory board member of the African Technology Development Forum.<ref>[http://www.atdforum.org/spip.php?page=atdf_advisors ATDF advisory panel], ADTF website, accessed 28 June 2009</ref>
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* 2004: member of steering committee of the ABIC2004<ref>[http://www.abic2004.org/htdocs/about_02.html Steering Committee], ABIC 2004 website, accessed 28 June 2009</ref>
 
* 2004: member of steering committee of the ABIC2004<ref>[http://www.abic2004.org/htdocs/about_02.html Steering Committee], ABIC 2004 website, accessed 28 June 2009</ref>
 
* In 2003, Ammann spent a sabbatical at the Missouri Botanical Garden (MBG) in the USA with [http://web.archive.org/web/20060930171639/http://www.gmwatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=191&page=R Prof. Peter Raven].<ref>[http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_academies/acdscien/2009/booklet_transgenic_34.pdf Biographies of Participants], Study Week: Transgenic Plants for Food Security in the Context of Development, Pontifical Academy of Science, 15-19 May 2009, Rome, p.21, accessed 28 June 2009</ref> MBG is sponsored by Monsanto and acts as a collector for Monsanto's bioprospecting activities.<ref>[http://www.mobot.org/mobot/webmo/2001/ecobot.shtml Economic Botany at the Missouri Botanical Garden], Missouri Botanical Garden website, accessed 28 June 2009</ref>
 
* In 2003, Ammann spent a sabbatical at the Missouri Botanical Garden (MBG) in the USA with [http://web.archive.org/web/20060930171639/http://www.gmwatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=191&page=R Prof. Peter Raven].<ref>[http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_academies/acdscien/2009/booklet_transgenic_34.pdf Biographies of Participants], Study Week: Transgenic Plants for Food Security in the Context of Development, Pontifical Academy of Science, 15-19 May 2009, Rome, p.21, accessed 28 June 2009</ref> MBG is sponsored by Monsanto and acts as a collector for Monsanto's bioprospecting activities.<ref>[http://www.mobot.org/mobot/webmo/2001/ecobot.shtml Economic Botany at the Missouri Botanical Garden], Missouri Botanical Garden website, accessed 28 June 2009</ref>
* 2004 Ammann published a report, "The impact of agricultural biotechnology on biodiversity", which was financed by Monsanto.<ref>Klaus Ammann, [http://www.botanischergarten.ch/Biotech-Biodiv/Report-Biodiv-Biotech12.pdf The impact of agricultural biotechnology on biodiversity], August 2004, p. 4</ref> The report, perhaps unsurprisingly, came up with the conclusion that GM will help protect biodiversity: "Habitat loss and fragmentation represent the greatest threats to natural genetic diversity. Practices that increase the productivity of existing agricultural lands will help to limit these effects. (UNDP, 2001). GM crops can be useful in this respect."<ref>Klaus Ammann, [http://www.botanischergarten.ch/Biotech-Biodiv/Report-Biodiv-Biotech12.pdf The impact of agricultural biotechnology on biodiversity], August 2004, p. 68</ref> Besides several Monsanto employees, [[Detlef Bartsch]] of the German authority for consumer protection (BVL) is also listed as a reviewer.<ref>Klaus Ammann, [http://www.botanischergarten.ch/Biotech-Biodiv/Report-Biodiv-Biotech12.pdf The impact of agricultural biotechnology on biodiversity], August 2004, p. 4</ref>
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* 2004: Ammann published a report, "The impact of agricultural biotechnology on biodiversity", which was financed by Monsanto.<ref>Klaus Ammann, [http://www.botanischergarten.ch/Biotech-Biodiv/Report-Biodiv-Biotech12.pdf The impact of agricultural biotechnology on biodiversity], August 2004, p. 4</ref> The report, perhaps unsurprisingly, came up with the conclusion that GM will help protect biodiversity: "Habitat loss and fragmentation represent the greatest threats to natural genetic diversity. Practices that increase the productivity of existing agricultural lands will help to limit these effects. (UNDP, 2001). GM crops can be useful in this respect."<ref>Klaus Ammann, [http://www.botanischergarten.ch/Biotech-Biodiv/Report-Biodiv-Biotech12.pdf The impact of agricultural biotechnology on biodiversity], August 2004, p. 68</ref> Besides several Monsanto employees, [[Detlef Bartsch]] of the German authority for consumer protection (BVL) is also listed as a reviewer.<ref>Klaus Ammann, [http://www.botanischergarten.ch/Biotech-Biodiv/Report-Biodiv-Biotech12.pdf The impact of agricultural biotechnology on biodiversity], August 2004, p. 4</ref>
* 2006, Monsanto published a video (podcast) on their website with Klaus Ammann as biotechnology expert.<ref>[http://www.monsanto.com/biotech-gmo/asp/experts.asp?id=KlausAmmann Conversations about plant biotechnology: Dr. Klaus Ammann], Monsanto website, accessed 28 June 2008</ref>
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* 2006: Monsanto published a video (podcast) on their website with Klaus Ammann as biotechnology expert.<ref>[http://www.monsanto.com/biotech-gmo/asp/experts.asp?id=KlausAmmann Conversations about plant biotechnology: Dr. Klaus Ammann], Monsanto website, accessed 28 June 2008</ref>
 
* Ammann, together with [[Channapatna S. Prakash|C.S. Prakash]], played an important role in the attacks on David Quist and Ignacio Chapela after their scientific publication of GM maize contamination in Mexico.
 
* Ammann, together with [[Channapatna S. Prakash|C.S. Prakash]], played an important role in the attacks on David Quist and Ignacio Chapela after their scientific publication of GM maize contamination in Mexico.
  

Revision as of 11:43, 29 June 2009

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.

Ammann, together with CS Prakash and others, signed an 'Open Letter to the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development' (April 2000).[1] The letter warned the Commission against "needless over-regulation" of GM on the grounds of "the very real threat that an overly-strict adherence to precautionary regulation could pose to both the environment and to the well being of human populations around the world."

Ammann edits a pro-GM e-mail list and played a leading role together with CS Prakash in circulating and encouraging the attacks on researchers David Quist and Ignacio Chapela and their paper on GM contamination of Mexican maize published in Nature.

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: retired from Botanical Garden, University of Bern
  • 2006-07: visiting lecturer in biosafety and corporate ethics at Delft University of Technology[2]

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.[3]

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 to "inform policy makers, regulators and the general public about the objectives and progress in public research in agricultural biotechnology".[4]

Ammann is chair and coordinator of the Science4BioReg's Ask Force (2006-2009).[5] Ask Force is a collaborative initiative by PRRI and the European Federation of Biotechnology (EFB).[6]

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.[7]

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)[8]
  • Do GM potatoes with lectins harm rat organs as Pusztai claims?
  • Are rat organs damaged after feeding on GM soybeans as [Irina] 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".[9]

Membership of commissions and working groups

  • 1995-2007: Biosafety Committee of the Government of Switzerland[10]
  • GMO Expert Group European Commission Directorate General JRC - IPTS[11]
  • 2002: Steering Committee of PLANTA EUROPA[12]
  • former member of the Federal Expert Commission for Biosafety, Switzerland

As of June 2009:

  • Chairman European Group of Plant Specialists, IUCN[13]
  • 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)[14]

Participation in research projects

  • 1999-2004: member of the steering committee of AIGM - Assessment of the Impacts of Genetically Modified Plants[15]
  • 2004-08: EU project SIGMEA: Gene flow of maize in Europe
  • 2006-09: Ask Force and coordination of a scientific database.[16] Ask Force moderator for the PRRI and the EFB.[17]

Participation in lobby organisations

  • 1998: founder of a German pro-GM lobbying organisation of scientists, Wissenschaftlerkreis Grüne Gentechnik[18]
  • member of the executive board of the European Federation of Biotechnology (EFB),[19] chair of the EFB section on biodiversity, and member of the editorial board of the journal Environmental Biosafety Research of the EFB.[20] EFB is an organisation of scientists wishing to promote biotechnology. It has an extensive corporate membership[21]
  • member of the steering committee of the PRRI,[22] as well as member of its working group[23] and in the former working group “Future Issues”.[24]
  • founder and member of the Publications Committee of the International Society for Biosafety Research (ISBR)[25]
  • member of the European Science Foundation (ESF) and steering committee member of the project Assessment of Genetically Modified Plants (AIGM)[26]
  • board member of Gensuisse,[27] a lobby organisation founded by the pharmaceutical industry to promote genetic engineering, together with representatives of Monsanto and Syngenta, among others.
  • member of the advisory board of InterNutrition,[28] a Swiss body which promotes genetic engineering. Among others the following companies and organisations are given as members of InterNutrition: Föderation der Schweiz, Nahrungsmittel-Industrien (FIAL), Hoffmann-La Roche AG, Monsanto, Nestlé Suisse S.A., Novartis, Novo Nordisk Ferment Ltd. and Unilever-Lipton Sais.
  • 2004-06: board member of Africa Harvest,[29] a US lobby organisation to promote the introduction of GM crops, founded by Florence Wambugu. Advisory board member of the African Technology Development Forum.[30]
  • expert for AgBioWorld for Risk Assessment and Public Perception of Biotechnology.[31]
  • maintainer of the former website Bio-Scope, financed by EuropaBio. As of April 2008 the website had been defunct for an unknown period
  • 2004: member of steering committee of the ABIC2004[32]
  • In 2003, Ammann spent a sabbatical at the Missouri Botanical Garden (MBG) in the USA with Prof. Peter Raven.[33] MBG is sponsored by Monsanto and acts as a collector for Monsanto's bioprospecting activities.[34]
  • 2004: Ammann published a report, "The impact of agricultural biotechnology on biodiversity", which was financed by Monsanto.[35] The report, perhaps unsurprisingly, came up with the conclusion that GM will help protect biodiversity: "Habitat loss and fragmentation represent the greatest threats to natural genetic diversity. Practices that increase the productivity of existing agricultural lands will help to limit these effects. (UNDP, 2001). GM crops can be useful in this respect."[36] Besides several Monsanto employees, Detlef Bartsch of the German authority for consumer protection (BVL) is also listed as a reviewer.[37]
  • 2006: Monsanto published a video (podcast) on their website with Klaus Ammann as biotechnology expert.[38]
  • Ammann, together with C.S. Prakash, played an important role in the attacks on David Quist and Ignacio Chapela after their scientific publication of GM maize contamination in Mexico.

Teaching

  • Lectures in Biosafety and Corporate Ethics at Delft University of Technology 2006-2007
  • Lectures in Plant Systematics and Evolution, Biogeography University of Bern [39]
  • Lectures on Air Pollution Biomonitoring at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, soon to be established [40]
  • Numerous lectures in national and international conferences on biodiversity and biotechnology
  • UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization): Member of Teaching faculty, Global Initiative on Education in BiotechnologyCite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag

Appeals and petitions

Among other appeals and petitions, Amman signed:

  • the Center for Global Food Issues' "Declaration in support of protecting nature with high yielding farming and forestry"[41]
  • the position paper of the International Workshops on Green Biotechnology of the Akademienunion (2006)[42]
  • the "Petition in support of Indian farmers' right to grow biotech crops and scientific field testing"[43]. This petition is sponsored by C.S. Prakash and AgBioWorld Foundation.
  • the "Joint Statement in Support of Scientific Discourse in Mexican GM Maize Scandal" (2002),[44]
  • the ABIC 2004 "Manifesto: Science helps to improve Agricultural Systems" (2004)[45]
  • In 2000, Ammann signed an Open Letter to the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development in which the signatories protest against a "needless over-regulation" of GMOs because of the "very real threat that an over-strict adherence to precautionary regulation could pose to both the environment and the well being of human populations around the world."[46]

Quotes

  • "Biotechnology will help to lower the negative impact of agriculture on biodiversity – that’s for sure." – Statement on the Monsanto website[47]
  • “Genetic engineering will enable us in future to take another step away from the current monocultures, in which very many pesticides and herbicides in a complicated system have to be applied.” (Translated from the German: "Die Gentechnologie ermöglicht es in Zukunft auch, noch einen weiteren Schritt weg von der bisherigen Monokultur zu gehen, bei der sehr viele Pestizide und Herbizide in einem komplizierten Spritzkalender verabreicht werden müssen."[48]) - Klaus Ammann, 1997, Information Soyabean website (supported by Monsanto, the BLL and the Association of German Oil Mills[49]

CVs

Notes

  1. AgBioWorld 24th April 2000 An Open Letter to the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development accessed 16 June 2007
  2. "Profile of Prof Klaus Ammann, EuropaBio website, accessed June 9 2009
  3. "Ask Force", PRRI website, accessed 9 June 2009
  4. "Science4BioReg", PRRI website, accessed 9 June 2009
  5. "Science4BioReg", PRRI website, accessed 9 June 2009
  6. "Ask Force", PRRI website, accessed 9 June 2009
  7. "Ask Force", PRRI website, accessed 9 June 2009
  8. Dona, A. & Arvanitoyannis, I.S. (2009), Health Risks of Genetically Modified Foods. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 49, 2, pp 164-175
  9. Genetically Modified (GM) Foods: Renewed Threat to Europe, GMWatch, 2008, accessed 9 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. "Prof. Dr. Klaus Ammann", European Federation of Biotechnology website, accessed 10 June 2009
  14. "Actuelles", Union der deutschen Akademien der Wissenschaften website, accessed 10 June 2009
  15. "Assessment of the Impacts of Genetically Modified Plants (AIGM) Steering Committee", European Science Foundation website, accessed 16 June 2009
  16. "Science4BioReg", PRRI website, accessed16 June 2009
  17. "Launch of a new EFB-Forum: ASK-FORCE: Klaus Amman, Moderator", European Federation of Biotechnology website, accessed 16 June 2009
  18. The website of this organisation is at http://www.wgg-ev.de, accessed 16 June 2009
  19. Executive Board, EFB website, accessed 17 June 2009
  20. Editorial Board, EFB website, accessed 17 June 2009
  21. European Federation of Biotechnology Website About Us: Members, Accessed June 16th 2007
  22. steering committee, PRRI website, accessed 17 June 2009
  23. Working Group Public Sector Research in Modern Biotechnology, PRRI website, accessed 17 June 2009
  24. Antje Lorch and Christoph Then, Kontrolle oder Kollaboration? Agro-Gentechnik und die Rolle der Behörden, April 2008, accessed 17 June 2009
  25. Standing Committees of the ISBR, International Society for Biosafety Research website, accessed 17 June 2009
  26. Assessment of the Impacts of Genetically Modified Plants (AIGM) Steering Committee, European Science Foundation website, accessed 17 June 2009
  27. Stiftungsrat, Gensuisse website, accessed 17 June 2009
  28. Expertenbeirat, InterNutrition website, accessed 28 June 2009
  29. Conversations about plant biotechnology: Dr. Klaus Ammann, Monsanto website, accessed 28 June 2009
  30. ATDF advisory panel, ADTF website, accessed 28 June 2009
  31. Ag-Biotech Experts and Media Contacts, AgBioWorld website, accessed 28 June 2009
  32. Steering Committee, ABIC 2004 website, accessed 28 June 2009
  33. Biographies of Participants, Study Week: Transgenic Plants for Food Security in the Context of Development, Pontifical Academy of Science, 15-19 May 2009, Rome, p.21, accessed 28 June 2009
  34. Economic Botany at the Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden website, accessed 28 June 2009
  35. Klaus Ammann, The impact of agricultural biotechnology on biodiversity, August 2004, p. 4
  36. Klaus Ammann, The impact of agricultural biotechnology on biodiversity, August 2004, p. 68
  37. Klaus Ammann, The impact of agricultural biotechnology on biodiversity, August 2004, p. 4
  38. Conversations about plant biotechnology: Dr. Klaus Ammann, Monsanto website, accessed 28 June 2008
  39. A summary link to many of Ammann's biodiversity lectures at the University of Bern
  40. See presentation by Ammann here
  41. Declaration in support of protecting nature with high yielding farming and forestry, Center for Global Food Issues website, accessed June 28 2009
  42. position paper of the International Workshops on Green Bitoechnology der Akademienunion, 2006, accessed 28 June 2009
  43. Petition in support of Indian farmers' right to grow biotech crops and scientific field testing, Care2 petitionsite, accessed 28 June 2009
  44. Joint Statement in Support of Scientific Discourse in Mexican GM Maize Scandal, AgBioWorld website, accessed 28 June 2009
  45. ABIC2004 Manifesto: Science helps to improve Agricultural Systems, ABIC 2004 website, accessed 28 June 2009
  46. Open Letter to the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, AgBioWorld, 24 April 2000, accessed 28 June 2009
  47. Klaus Ammann, Conversations about plant biotechnology: Dr. Klaus Ammann, Monsanto website, accessed 28 June 2009
  48. Dr. Klaus Ammann: Statement/Thesen: Reduzierter Einsatz von Herbiziden, Abbaubarkeit im Boden, Genfluss, Information Sojabohne/Information Soyabean website, accessed in web archive 28 June 2009
  49. Information Soyabean - Web-Site, accessed in web archive 28 June 2009