CropGen

The initiative, CropGen, will provide a resource for the general public, interest groups and the media on the subject of GM crops. CropGen will comprise a panel of scientists and other specialists from a variety of disciplines, including agriculture, plant science, microbiology, ecology and consumer affairs. The panel will be able to offer a perspective on key issues in the GM crop debate such as human health, environmental impact and how we assess the benefits versus the risks.

A service for the media commences today and services for consumers - an information line and a website - launch in March. The panel will be chaired by Vivian Moses, Visiting Professor of Biotechnology, King's College, London. He said today: "CropGen's challenge is to explain the current and future benefits of GM crops and to set any possible risks they might present in context. Its mission is to provide a voice for crop biotechnology - a voice that has all too often been missing from the public debates in the UK to date."

Whilst CropGen will be funded initially by five biotechnology companies, the CropGen panel is independent. The sponsors (Aventis CropScience, Dow AgroSciences, Monsanto and Novartis Seeds) have signed an undertaking that they cannot veto any of the scientific positions taken by the panel. CropGen's mission is to make the case for crop biotechnology, not the biotechnology industry.

*Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development