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.

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 called Ask Force (from 2006; his listserv was previously called Bern Debates, from 2001 to 2005) 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]

PRRI, Science4BioReg, and Ask Force

PRRI, Science4BioReg, and Ask Force are three interconnecting bodies. Amman plays a central role in all of them.

PRRI

At Delft University of Technology, Ammann was part of the Working Group on Biotechnology and Society, together with Piet van der Meer. Also hosted by Delft University of Technology is the Public Research and Regulation Initiative (PRRI) Secretariat. PRRI is a biotech PR initiative launched in 2004 whose committee members include Ammann, as well as Roger Beachy, Calestous Juma, Julian Kinderlerer, and other well known GM proponents.[3]

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.[4]

In July 2006 Ammann sent an email to his listserv explaining the PR role of the PRRI in representing its members' interests in the context of negotiations on the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, an international treaty governing the movements of GMOs between countries. He also invites members of his listserv to join the PRRI forum:

From: Klaus Ammann <klaus.ammann@ips.unibe.ch>
Reply-To: "klaus.ammann@ips.unibe.ch" <klaus.ammann@ips.unibe.ch>
Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2006 10:49:48 -0500
To: ...
Subject: ASK-FORCE Message No. 4: Public Research and Regulation Initiative
Public Research and Regulation Initiative (PRRI)
Friends,
This is message No. 4 about PRRI.
It's a very important initiative:
The PRRI, Public Research and Regulation Initiative has been launched last year. The main purpose is to enhance scientific information about biosafety within the framework of international negotiations such as the Cartagena Biosafety Protocol. You are all invited to become members of the forum of PRRI, Public Research and Regulation Initiative. It is for free and you will get newsletters. See the webpage: www.pubresreg.org <http://www.pubresreg.org/> ...
Best regards,
Prof. Klaus Ammann, Chairman of the EFB Section on Biodiversity & Moderator of the EFB Ask-Force Forum

Science4BioReg

Both PRRI and PRRI's EU Commission-funded project Science4BioReg are located at Delft University of Technology. Science4BioReg funded PRRI to the tune of USD 800,000 from November 2006–November 2009.[5]

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".[6]

Ask Force

Since 2006 Ammann has been chair and coordinator of the Science4BioReg's listserv and website, Ask Force.[7] Ask Force is a collaborative initiative by PRRI and the European Federation of Biotechnology (EFB).[8]

This is how PRRI describes the role of 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.[9]

Oddly enough, however, many of 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. References are given at the end of each of Ammann's examples.

Examples listed by Ask Force include:

  • Do GM crops fail to produce more yields? (New)[10]
  • Do GM crops pose a health risk to humans as Dona claims? (New)[11]
  • Do GM potatoes with lectins harm rat organs as Pusztai claims?[12]
  • Are rat organs damaged after feeding on GM soybeans as [Irina] Ermakova claims?[13]
  • Did Monsanto transgenic hybrid maize lower the fertility of mice in a multi generational feeding experiment?[14]
  • Is the impact of Bt maize on non-target insects really significantly negative? (New)[15]
  • Do aquatic organisms suffer from residues and protein of Bt maize?[16]
  • Is Bt maize harmful to a larvae of the monarch butterfly?[17]

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".[18]

Membership of commissions and working groups

  • 1995-2007: Biosafety Committee of the Government of Switzerland[19]
  • GMO Expert Group European Commission Directorate General JRC - IPTS[20]
  • 2002: Steering Committee of PLANTA EUROPA[21]
  • former member of the Federal Expert Commission for Biosafety, Switzerland

As of June 2009:

  • Chairman European Group of Plant Specialists, IUCN[22]
  • 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)[23]

Participation in research projects

  • 1999-2004: member of the steering committee of AIGM - Assessment of the Impacts of Genetically Modified Plants[24]
  • 2004-08: EU project SIGMEA: Gene flow of maize in Europe
  • 2006-09: Ask Force and coordination of a scientific database.[25] Ask Force moderator for the PRRI and the EFB.[26]

Participation in lobby organisations

  • 1998: founder of a German pro-GM lobbying organisation of scientists, Wissenschaftlerkreis Grüne Gentechnik[27]
  • member of the executive board of the European Federation of Biotechnology (EFB),[28] chair of the EFB section on biodiversity, and member of the editorial board of the journal Environmental Biosafety Research of the EFB.[29] EFB is an organisation of scientists wishing to promote biotechnology. It has an extensive corporate membership[30]
  • member of the steering committee of the PRRI,[31] as well as member of its working group[32] and in the former working group “Future Issues”.[33]
  • founder and member of the Publications Committee of the International Society for Biosafety Research (ISBR)[34]
  • member of the European Science Foundation (ESF) and steering committee member of the project Assessment of Genetically Modified Plants (AIGM)[35]
  • board member of Gensuisse,[36] 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,[37] 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,[38] a US lobby organisation to promote the introduction of GM crops, founded by Florence Wambugu. On 6 July 2006 Ammann sent an email to his listserv about Africa Harvest's new project "on SuperSorghum, a biofortified new Sorghum for Africa". Ammann wrote: "I have the privilege to collaborate with Africa Harvest on the new Biofortification Programme, financed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Here a snapshot on the Africa Harvest activities taken from their website: http://www.ahbfi.org/. Inside you will find more information about the SuperSorghum project, which makes good progress in its first year."
  • advisory board member of the African Technology Development Forum.[39]
  • expert for AgBioWorld for Risk Assessment and Public Perception of Biotechnology.[40]
  • 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[41]
  • In 2003, Ammann spent a sabbatical at the Missouri Botanical Garden (MBG) in the USA with Prof. Peter Raven.[42] MBG is sponsored by Monsanto and acts as a collector for Monsanto's bioprospecting activities.[43]
  • 2004: Ammann published a report, "The impact of agricultural biotechnology on biodiversity", which was financed by Monsanto.[44] 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."[45] Besides several Monsanto employees, Detlef Bartsch of the German authority for consumer protection (BVL) and the European Food Safety Authority (which rubber-stamps GM foods) is also listed as a reviewer.[46]
  • 2006: Monsanto published a video (podcast) on their website with Klaus Ammann as biotechnology expert.[47]
  • 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 [48]
  • Lectures on Air Pollution Biomonitoring at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, soon to be established [49]
  • 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 Biotechnology[50]
  • Science and the Courts: Occasional participation in teaching[51]

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"[52]
  • the position paper of the International Workshops on Green Biotechnology of the Akademienunion (2006)[53]
  • the "Petition in support of Indian farmers' right to grow biotech crops and scientific field testing"[54]. 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)[55]
  • the ABIC 2004 "Manifesto: Science helps to improve Agricultural Systems" (2004)[56]
  • an Open Letter to the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (2000) 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."[57]

Quotes

  • "Biotechnology will help to lower the negative impact of agriculture on biodiversity – that’s for sure." – Klaus Ammann, statement on the Monsanto website[58]
  • “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."[59]) - Klaus Ammann, 1997, Information Soyabean website (supported by Monsanto, the BLL and the Association of German Oil Mills[60]

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. ↑ The PRRI committee members are listed on the PRRI website here, accessed 29 June 2009
  4. ↑ "Ask Force", PRRI website, accessed 9 June 2009
  5. ↑ Funding, PRRI website, accessed June 29 2009
  6. ↑ "Science4BioReg", PRRI website, accessed 9 June 2009
  7. ↑ "Science4BioReg", PRRI website, accessed 9 June 2009
  8. ↑ "Ask Force", PRRI website, accessed 9 June 2009
  9. ↑ "Ask Force", PRRI website, accessed 9 June 2009
  10. ↑ GM crops have not been found to increase yield potential and in some cases they have been found to decrease yield. See: Evidence of the Magnitude and Consequences of the Roundup Ready Soybean Yield Drag from University-Based Varietal Trials in 1998. Benbrook C. Benbrook Consulting Services Sandpoint, Idaho. Ag BioTech InfoNet Technical Paper, Number 1, 13 Jul 1999; Glyphosate-resistant soyabean cultivar yields compared with sister lines. Elmore R.W. et al. Agronomy Journal, 93: 408-412, 2001; Development, yield, grain moisture and nitrogen uptake of Bt corn hybrids and their conventional near-isolines. Ma B.L. and Subedi K.D. Field Crops Research, 93: 199-211, 2005; The Adoption of Bioengineered Crops. US Department of Agriculture Report, May 2002; International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development: Global Summary for Decision Makers (IAASTD); Beintema, N. et al., 2008.
  11. ↑ Dona, A. & Arvanitoyannis, I.S. (2009), Health Risks of Genetically Modified Foods. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 49, 2, pp 164-175
  12. ↑ Effects of diets containing genetically modified potatoes expressing Galanthus nivalis lectin on rat small intestine. Ewen S.W. and Pusztai A. The Lancet, 354: 1353-1354, 1999; Pusztai A. and Bardocz S. GMO in animal nutrition: potential benefits and risks. In: Biology of Nutrition in Growing Animals, eds. R. Mosenthin, J. Zentek and T. Zebrowska, Elsevier Limited, pp. 513-540, 2006
  13. ↑ Genetically modified soya leads to the decrease of weight and high mortality rate of rat pups of the first generation. Ermakova I.V. EcosInform, 1: 4-9, 2006
  14. ↑ Biological effects of transgenic maize NK603xMON810 fed in long term reproduction studies in mice. Velimirov A et al. Bundesministerium für Gesundheit, Familie und Jugend Report, Forschungsberichte der Sektion IV Band 3/2008, Austria, 2008
  15. ↑ Transgenic pollen harms monarch larvae. Losey J.E. et al. Nature, 399: 214, 1999; Field deposition of Bt transgenic corn pollen: lethal effects on the monarch butterfly. Hansen L. C. and J. Obrycki J. Oecologia, 125: 241-245, 2000; The effects of pollen consumption of transgenic Bt maize on the common swallowtail, Papilio machaon L. (Lepidoptera, Papilionidae). Lang A and Vojtech E. Basic and Applied Ecology, 7: 296-306, 2006; A meta-analysis of effects of Bt cotton and maize on nontarget invertebrates. Marvier M. et al. Science, 316: 1475-1477, 2007.
  16. ↑ Toxins in transgenic crop byproducts may affect headwater stream ecosystems. Rosi-Marshall E.J. et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 104: 16204-16208, 2007
  17. ↑ Transgenic pollen harms monarch larvae. Losey J.E. et al. Nature, 399: 214, 1999; Field deposition of Bt transgenic corn pollen: lethal effects on the monarch butterfly. Hansen L. C. and J. Obrycki J. Oecologia, 125: 241-245, 2000
  18. ↑ Genetically Modified (GM) Foods: Renewed Threat to Europe, GMWatch, 2008, accessed 9 June 2009
  19. ↑ "Prof. Dr. Klaus Ammann", European Federation of Biotechnology website, accessed 10 June 2009
  20. ↑ "Prof. Dr. Klaus Ammann", European Federation of Biotechnology website, accessed 10 June 2009
  21. ↑ "Prof. Dr. Klaus Ammann", European Federation of Biotechnology website, accessed 10 June 2009
  22. ↑ "Prof. Dr. Klaus Ammann", European Federation of Biotechnology website, accessed 10 June 2009
  23. ↑ "Actuelles", Union der deutschen Akademien der Wissenschaften website, accessed 10 June 2009
  24. ↑ "Assessment of the Impacts of Genetically Modified Plants (AIGM) Steering Committee", European Science Foundation website, accessed 16 June 2009
  25. ↑ "Science4BioReg", PRRI website, accessed16 June 2009
  26. ↑ "Launch of a new EFB-Forum: ASK-FORCE: Klaus Amman, Moderator", European Federation of Biotechnology website, accessed 16 June 2009
  27. ↑ The website of this organisation is at http://www.wgg-ev.de, accessed 16 June 2009
  28. ↑ Executive Board, EFB website, accessed 17 June 2009
  29. ↑ Editorial Board, EFB website, accessed 17 June 2009
  30. ↑ European Federation of Biotechnology Website About Us: Members, Accessed June 16th 2007
  31. ↑ steering committee, PRRI website, accessed 17 June 2009
  32. ↑ Working Group Public Sector Research in Modern Biotechnology, PRRI website, accessed 17 June 2009
  33. ↑ Antje Lorch and Christoph Then, Kontrolle oder Kollaboration? Agro-Gentechnik und die Rolle der Behörden, April 2008, accessed 17 June 2009
  34. ↑ Standing Committees of the ISBR, International Society for Biosafety Research website, accessed 17 June 2009
  35. ↑ Assessment of the Impacts of Genetically Modified Plants (AIGM) Steering Committee, European Science Foundation website, accessed 17 June 2009
  36. ↑ Stiftungsrat, Gensuisse website, accessed 17 June 2009
  37. ↑ Expertenbeirat, InterNutrition website, accessed 28 June 2009
  38. ↑ Conversations about plant biotechnology: Dr. Klaus Ammann, Monsanto website, accessed 28 June 2009
  39. ↑ ATDF advisory panel, ADTF website, accessed 28 June 2009
  40. ↑ Ag-Biotech Experts and Media Contacts, AgBioWorld website, accessed 28 June 2009
  41. ↑ Steering Committee, ABIC 2004 website, accessed 28 June 2009
  42. ↑ 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
  43. ↑ Economic Botany at the Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden website, accessed 28 June 2009
  44. ↑ Klaus Ammann, The impact of agricultural biotechnology on biodiversity, August 2004, p. 4
  45. ↑ Klaus Ammann, The impact of agricultural biotechnology on biodiversity, August 2004, p. 68
  46. ↑ Klaus Ammann, The impact of agricultural biotechnology on biodiversity, August 2004, p. 4
  47. ↑ Conversations about plant biotechnology: Dr. Klaus Ammann, Monsanto website, accessed 28 June 2008
  48. ↑ A summary link to many of Ammann's biodiversity lectures at the University of Bern
  49. ↑ See presentation by Ammann here
  50. ↑ Klaus Amman, UNIDO BINAS website, accessed 28 June 2009
  51. ↑ Klaus Ammann curriculum vitae, University of Bern Botanic Garden website, accessed 28 June 2009
  52. ↑ Declaration in support of protecting nature with high yielding farming and forestry, Center for Global Food Issues website, accessed June 28 2009
  53. ↑ position paper of the International Workshops on Green Bitoechnology der Akademienunion, 2006, accessed 28 June 2009
  54. ↑ Petition in support of Indian farmers' right to grow biotech crops and scientific field testing, Care2 petitionsite, accessed 28 June 2009
  55. ↑ Joint Statement in Support of Scientific Discourse in Mexican GM Maize Scandal, AgBioWorld website, accessed 28 June 2009
  56. ↑ ABIC2004 Manifesto: Science helps to improve Agricultural Systems, ABIC 2004 website, accessed 28 June 2009
  57. ↑ Open Letter to the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, AgBioWorld, 24 April 2000, accessed 28 June 2009
  58. ↑ Klaus Ammann, Conversations about plant biotechnology: Dr. Klaus Ammann, Monsanto website, accessed 28 June 2009
  59. ↑ 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
  60. ↑ Information Soyabean - Web-Site, accessed in web archive 28 June 2009
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