Kristina Sinemus

Kristina Sinemus is founder (in 1998) and CEO of the German-based consultancy company Genius Ltd., which specializes in conceptualization and design of publications and websites for clients from governmental authorities and biotechnology companies. Development and content development of the websites www.gmo-safety.eu and www.gmo-compoass.org

Studies and scientific work

Studied biology, German studies and pedagogics at the universities of Münster and Kassel (Germany). 1991-1995: Scientific assistant at the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies in Technology (ZIT) at the Technical University of Darmstadt (Germany). 1995: PhD graduation on Biological risk analysis of genetically engineered herbicide resistant crops at the TU Darmstadt under Prof. Hans-Günter Gassen [2]. 1995-98: Head of the PR working group of the Institute for Biochemistry of the TU Darmstadt.

Membership of commissions and working groups

Member of the JKI (former BBA) working group Monitoring accompanying the cultivation of genetically modified plants in the agroecosystem coordinated by Joachim Schiemann.

Participation in research projects

Responsible for the project Comminucation management in biologica safety research by the German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF), in which research results of BMBF projects on risk assessment of GM crops are published on the website www.gmo-safety.eu. Genius Ltd. runs this website together with Transgen (Gerd Spelsberg) and the TÜV Nord. Together with Transgen, Genius also maintains the website of the former EU project GMO-Compass ( www.gmo-compass.org ), that also published the results of Joachim Schiemann 's EU project BIOSAFENET, and where Genius acts as contact. For both websites Kristina Sinemus is explicitly named [3] [4] [. In case of gmo-compass.org the editors describe the site as the work of “independent science journalists”. Member of the German mirror group of the Technology Platform Plants for the Future.

Participation in lobby organisations

Since 1997, Kristina Sinemus organizes the German Gesprächskreis Grüne Gentechnik (GGG, Discussion group Green Biotechnology), a lobby group whose members are not published and which does not give out any organisation about itself. She is also a member of the Wissenschaftlerkreis Grüne Gentechnik (WGG, Scientist group Green Biotechnolgy) run by Klaus-Dieter Jany and founded among others by Klaus Ammann Kristina Sinemus is member of the website committee [5] of ISBR . Through Genius she is member of the EFB, BIO Germany and Innoplanta. Genius does PR work for Innoplanta and co-organizes its annual Innoplanta forum. Kristina Sinemus participated in the COP-MOP4 of the Carthagena Protocol on Biosafety in Bonn, 2008 for the Global Industry Coalition [6]

Direct and/or indirect participation in GMO approval procedures

- publication of BMBF research results on GMO risk assessment studies on www.gmo-safety.eu - articipation in the JKI working group Monitoring accompanying the cultivation of genetically modified plants in the agroecosystem that developed criteria for post-market monitoring - numerous clients of Genius, develop GMOs and ask for permits for field trials and/or commercial release - member of the organisation Innoplanta that conducted the first trial cultivation (Versuchsanbau) with GM maize MON810 in Germany and that supports its members in the development and cultivation of GMOs.

Genius

Genius GmbH (Ltd) was founded 1998 as a spin-off of the Technical University Darmstadt. Shareholders are Kristina Sinemus, Klaus Minol, Hans Günter Gassen und Mogg. Kristina Sinemus is CEO, Klaus Minol Scientific Head.

Participation in research projects

Genius not only conceptualizes and designs print and online publications, but also provides content for them and develops some of theses contetnt through the active participation in German and EU projects. Genius describes itself as a “facilitator of transparency and communication” (Vermittler von Transparenz und Kommunikation), but the PR and consultancy company has a clear position in favour of genetic engineering.

The website www.gmosafety.eu is organised by a project tnetwork of Genius, Transgen and TÜV Nord. The website is financed by the German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) and publishes the results of BMBF projects and additional information on genetic engineering. It is also supported by the EU projects BIOSAFENET (Joachim Schiemann and ISBR. Klaus Minol is the contact person for BIOSAFENT and the results of this projected are published on gmodafety.eu.

The website www.gmo-compass.org is also maintained by Genius and Transgen.

Kristina Sinemus and Klaus Minol represent Genius in the EU project CO-EXTRA as members of the management board, executive committee, as head of a working group and as editorial office. Kristina Sinemus represents Genius in the EU Technology Platform Plants for the Future

Participation in lobby organisations

Kristina Sinemus is member of the website committee of ISBR. The company Genius is member of BIO Germany and of the EFB.

Funding and clients

Genius has a wide range of clients from the German and European business sector and administration. [7]

Among others the German Ministry for education and research (BMBF), Ministry for food, agriculture and consumer protection, the European Commission, the EFSA, as well as Sanofi Aventis, Aventis CropScience, DECHEMA, GBM, CMA, Bayer AG, American Soybean Association, United Soybeanboard, Monsanto, Syngenta, BASF, BLL, EUFIC, BIO Deutschland, EuropaBIO, and Innoplanta. For EFSA, for example, edits publications like the annual report 2006. Unfortunately, Genius currently develops a new website and much of the detailed information about clients and projects is not available (any more).

website

www.genius.de

InnoPlanta

2000: The organisation InnoPlanta e.V. was founded in 2000 as a project of BIO Mitteldeutschland Ltd. One of the founders is Hans Strohmeyer from BIO Mitteldeutschland Ltd., who acted as project coordinator and a head of InnoPlanta's office. It's loacted in Gatersleben (Saxony-Anhalt, Germany) where also the German seed bank is located. Its aim is to give advice for members and to act as agency for funding, PR and “acceptance research” for GM crops. 2004: InnoPlanta conducts the first cultivation trials of GM maize in Germany. 2004/05 it paid TransGen for a website portal on cultivation trials. since 2005: Annual InnoPlanta Forum, funded by the Regional Companies Project of the BMBF and by BIO Mitteldeutschland. 2006: Foundation of the Working group of innovative farmers in InnoPlanta (Arbeitgemeinschaft Innovativer Landwirte im InnoPlanta, AGIL) [8] by 20 farmers with the aim to support farmers who want go grow GM crops and to represent when dealing with politicians, businesses or local communities. In 2006 four politicians and scientists (among them Klaus-Dieter Jany acted as “godfathers” for AGIL farmers [9]

InnoPlanta affiliates

InnoPlanta has about 93 members and about 60 partners in research, business, finances and politics (as of April 2008), among which KWS, NovoPlant, SunGene and TraitGenetics (Gatersleben), <BIO Mitteldeutschland, Genius, Landesbauernverband Sachsen-Anhalt, Bundesanstalt für Züchtungsforschung an Kulturpflanzen (BAZ Quedlinburg, now JKI) and the Institute for Plant Genetics and Crop Research (IPK Gatersleben).

InnoPlanta funding

BIO Mitteldeutschland received 20 million Euro subsidies from the German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) from the InnoRegio Competition since 2003.

Innoplanta website

http://www.innoplanta.de

Website gmo-safety.eu

German version: www.biosicherheit.de The website gmo-safety.eu exists since 2001 and is currently (2004-2010) funded by the German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) as communication project. gmo-safety.eu mainly exhibits the results of BMBF projects concerning risk analysis of GM crops, the results of the EU project BIOSAFENET (coordinated by Joachim Schiemann) as well as additional news and information. The editorial team consists out of staff of the consultancy company Genius (among others [[Kristina Sinemus, CEO and Klaus Minol, Scientific Head), TransGeN (Gerd Spelsberg]] and of TÜV Nord. All three companies/organisation are more or less explicitely in favour of GM crops. For example Genius and TÜV Nord are both members of the German branch of the internation biotech lobby organisation BIO, Bio Deutschland. TÜV Nord an international company that among other services and test on safety issues, offers services for the supervision of genetic engineering laboratories and environmental releases of GMOs as well as support in the planning and conduction of environmental releases and post-market monitoring. It provides training courses for the safety experts required by law in every GE lab. 5 Website GMO-compass.org The website gmo-compass.org is maintained by the consultancy company Genius and TransGen, who together also maintain the website gmo-safety.eu. The site was funded in 2005-07 as EU project GMO-Compass - GMO Communication and safety evaluation platform with 460.000 Euro [10] Afterwards funding was first resumed in 2007 by EuropBio and in 2007/08 by the German Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV). [11] There is no information about the current source of funding. The website is build mainly on the German website www.transgeen.de which has been financed since 1997 from a range of different sources including ministries and local authorities, the biotech industry and InnoPlanta. [12] Among the members of the advisory board of the GMO-compass project were Joachim Schiemann and representatives of BEUC and EuropaBio.

6 TransGen

history

The organisation Transgen Science Communication was set up 1997 by the German Consumer Iniative. Main editor and project leader is Gerd Spelsberg. At the moment TransGen is mainly active as editors for the websites gmo-safety.eu, gmo-compass.org and transgen.de

funding

Despite its apparent proximity to a consumer organisation, TransGen has been financed by a wide range of different sources: Ministry for Environment and Consumers in North-Rhine-Westfalia (Germany; 1997), University of Hagen (1997/98), Labour Union NGG (1998/99), the food producers lobby organisation BLL (1998-2000, 2002/03 and 2007), Ministry for Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture (1999/2000, 2002), Environmental Agency (UBA, 2000, 2002), biotech industries (Bayer Crop Science, BASF, Dow Agro Sciences, Monsanto Agrar, Du Pont/Pioneer Hi-Bred, Syngenta Agro; since 2001), FibL (2004), DIALOGIK (2004) and Innoplanta (2004/05). Through the GMO Compass Transgen was also financed by the EU (2005-07), EuropaBio (2007) and the BMELV (2007/08).

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