Difference between revisions of "Maurice Moloney"

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The following is Pete Riley of GM Freeze's comment on Moloney's appointment as Rothamsted director and CEO:
 
The following is Pete Riley of GM Freeze's comment on Moloney's appointment as Rothamsted director and CEO:
  
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:The appointment of Professor Moloney to this important post suggests that the BBSRC is pushing on with the strategy of putting GM and biotechnology at the forefront of agricultural research. This would be a mistake as GM technology is expensive, unproven and risky. Agroecology is already delivering results for small farmers in the South. What is needed is more research and, critically, improved education services so that new agroecological techniques can be quickly applied by farmers over large areas.  Rothamsted Research should place greater emphasis on agroecological research and development. They are in a great position to do so. We will be monitoring their research priorities and those of other BBSRC funded institutions to makes sure that agroecology gets a fair share of tax payers money.<ref>[http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11866:more-concern-over-new-rothamsted-ceo Major Concern about the Appointment of GM Scientist as CEO of Rothamsted Research], GM Freeze press release, 26 January 2010, accessed 28 Jan 2010</ref>
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:The appointment of Professor Moloney to this important post suggests that the BBSRC [funder of Rothamsted] is pushing on with the strategy of putting GM and biotechnology at the forefront of agricultural research. This would be a mistake as GM technology is expensive, unproven and risky. Agroecology is already delivering results for small farmers in the South. What is needed is more research and, critically, improved education services so that new agroecological techniques can be quickly applied by farmers over large areas.  Rothamsted Research should place greater emphasis on agroecological research and development. They are in a great position to do so. We will be monitoring their research priorities and those of other BBSRC funded institutions to makes sure that agroecology gets a fair share of tax payers money.<ref>[http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11866:more-concern-over-new-rothamsted-ceo Major Concern about the Appointment of GM Scientist as CEO of Rothamsted Research], GM Freeze press release, 26 January 2010, accessed 28 Jan 2010</ref>
  
 
==Notes==
 
==Notes==

Revision as of 23:41, 28 January 2010

Maurice Moloney is the Director and Chief Executive of Rothamsted Research, assuming the full duties of his post from 15 April 2010. He is the Chief Scientific Officer of SemBioSys Genetics Inc., a post that he will leave on March 25, 2010, remaining a consultant to SemBioSys.[1][2] SemBioSys is a plant biotech company well known for its controversial work on pharma crops (eg producing insulin from safflower seeds).[3] A GM pharma specialist, Moloney worked at SemBioSys on deriving a blood anti-coagulant from canola.[4][5][6]

Previously, Moloney led the Cell Biology group at Calgene, acquired by Monsanto in 1997.[7] At Calgene he developed the world's first transgenic oilseeds, which resulted in RoundUp Ready Canola and other novel crops. Moloney holds more than 300 patents.[8]

He is a professor at the University of Calgary, where he holds the NSERC/DowElanco Chair in Plant Biotechnology.[9]

Biography

The following is Moloney's biography from a SemBioSys Genetics Inc. document, "Company Overview", located on the Canadian government Foreign Affairs and International Trade website:

Dr. Moloney, our scientific founder, has over twenty years of extensive experience in plant biotechnology and has been our Chief Scientific Officer since July 2001. Dr. Moloney held the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Industrial Research Chair in Plant Biotechnology from 1995 – 2004. Dr. Moloney is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Calgary where he has been teaching since 1990. Prior to these positions, Dr. Moloney was the head of the Cell Biology Group at Calgene Inc., where he developed the first transgenic oilseed plants using canola as the model crop. This resulted in a landmark patent in plant biotechnology and eventually became the basis of Monsanto’s Roundup Ready® and Liberty Link® canola products. Dr. Moloney has published more than seventy original research papers and is an inventor on eighteen issued or pending patent families. Dr. Moloney serves on many federal and corporate advisory boards and is currently a member of NSERC Council and the Chairperson of NSERC’s Committee on Research Partnerships. Dr. Moloney has received a number of prestigious awards, including the Alberta Science and Technology (ASTECH) Award for leadership in Alberta Technology. Dr. Moloney received his B.Sc. in Organic Chemistry from Imperial College at the University of London and his doctorate in Plant Biochemistry from Leicester Polytechnic in the United Kingdom.[10]

Comment on Moloney's appointment as Rothamsted head

The following is Pete Riley of GM Freeze's comment on Moloney's appointment as Rothamsted director and CEO:

The appointment of Professor Moloney to this important post suggests that the BBSRC [funder of Rothamsted] is pushing on with the strategy of putting GM and biotechnology at the forefront of agricultural research. This would be a mistake as GM technology is expensive, unproven and risky. Agroecology is already delivering results for small farmers in the South. What is needed is more research and, critically, improved education services so that new agroecological techniques can be quickly applied by farmers over large areas. Rothamsted Research should place greater emphasis on agroecological research and development. They are in a great position to do so. We will be monitoring their research priorities and those of other BBSRC funded institutions to makes sure that agroecology gets a fair share of tax payers money.[11]

Notes

  1. ↑ New Director for Rothamsted Research, BBSRC press release, 14 January 2010
  2. ↑ SemBioSys Announces Departure Of Chief Scientific Officer Maurice Moloney - Quick Facts, RTT News, 13 Jan 2010, accessed 25 Jan 2010
  3. ↑ SemBioSys Genetics Inc. Company Overview, undated document, located on Canadian government Foreign Affairs and International Trade website, accessed 25 Jan 2010
  4. ↑ G.J.H. van Rooijen, B. Kühnel, V. Kumar, J.-H. Liu, S. Mahmoud, M.M. Moloney, FROM FARMING FOR FOOD TO PHARMING FOR PHARMACEUTICALS AND OTHER HIGH VALUE PROTEINS IN CRUCIFERS, ISHS Acta Horticulturae 459: International Symposium Brassica 97, Xth Crucifer Genetics Workshop, accessed 25 Jan 2010 (subscription req'd to access full article)
  5. ↑ Using Transgenic Plants to Make Medicines, AgBiotech Infosource: Issue 22 July, 1996, accessed 25 Jan 2010
  6. ↑ Molecular Farming Yields Novel Products from Canola , The Agbiotech Bulletin Volume 4 Issue 6 June 1996, accessed Jan 25 2010
  7. ↑ New Director for Rothamsted Research, BBSRC press release, 14 January 2010
  8. ↑ New Director for Rothamsted Research, BBSRC press release, 14 January 2010
  9. ↑ Molecular Farming Yields Novel Products from Canola , The Agbiotech Bulletin Volume 4 Issue 6 June 1996, accessed Jan 25 2010
  10. ↑ SemBioSys Genetics Inc. Company Overview, undated document, located on Canadian government Foreign Affairs and International Trade website, accessed 25 Jan 2010
  11. ↑ Major Concern about the Appointment of GM Scientist as CEO of Rothamsted Research, GM Freeze press release, 26 January 2010, accessed 28 Jan 2010
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