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The War on Plant Biotechnology

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The War on Plant Biotechnology President's Letter Inside This Issue The War on Plant Biotechnology ASPB Members Elected to Academy Arson Strikes UW Research There was a time when plant researchers had it good , the impression that corporate sponsorship compro­ Labs at least in some respects. After all, animal rights pr o­ mises much of the plant resea rch done in universi­ testers did not break into our labs to "liberate" our ties. Although some of the coverage is informative, I Me mbership Drive Under Way captive corn and tobacco plants. No one fretted if found much that is misleading, alarmist, or full of we ema sculated flowers or injected leaves. It seemed sinister innuendo ab out the moti ves and rationale for ASPB Aw ard Honorees a co rnfo r table ivory tower. Thus, it cam e as a shock plant biotechnology. to me to hear a report on National Public Radio To be sure , the scientific issues in this debate are about the firebombing of a plant biology lab at the wide ranging and complex and require a balan ced University of Washington. I was a postdoc at UW ass essment of risks and gains, because complete some years ago , and so this news felt like a personal knowledge is not attainable in any hum an ende avor. assault. According to newspaper accounts, this at­ Thi s does not make for easy reading or flashy head­ tack was part of an "eco-rerrorism" movement ad­ lines, and well-intentioned people might reasonably vanced by anti-corporate, anti -globalization , ant i­ disagree on points that may need further investiga ­ GM O extremists. The awful irony is that this lab­ tion or stepwise refinement. However, I believe that directed by Tob y Bradshaw-does not work with the heart of the publi c debate for opponents of bio­ geneti cally engineered plants and is researching top­ techn ology is not about techni cal issues but ab out ics that environmentalists should support. N ational underlying beliefs concerning the motives of scien­ television coverage of this incident was virtu ally non­ tists, companies, and government agencies. About the existent as far as I could judge from the evening news. virtu es of techn ology and the limits of hum an knowl­ Accord ing to a report in Science (see page 29 of this edge. About corporate cont rol of the food supply and newsletter), there were 11 attacks against plant re­ ownership of technology. These are largely social is­ search facilities in the Unit ed States last year, yet this sues, not scientific issues, but as scientists we have a fact hardly seems to be recognized by the scientific unique contribution to make to this publi c dialogue: community, never mind the public at larg e. Do you We can speak to our motives, our vision of how plant know that ASPB membe rs are finding their names research and its technol ogical appl ications may make on "hit lists" publ ished on the web by anti-GMO o ur world a better place. Do you remember wh at activists. What's going on? inspired you to study plants? Find opportunities to In a less extreme but equ ally worrisome vein, the explain that vision and how it relates to your work. latest issue of the magazine of the Sierra Club (of We need to communicate these things to the pub­ which I am a member!) is dominated by articles lic-so that a balanced view is heard by the public. v~ . ( against plant genetic engineering. One headline reads "Genetic Enginee ring Is Going Wild Because It Is Daniel Cosgrove Contro lled by Selfish Individual Interests." Another Penn State University d [email protected] announces "A Nation of Lab Rat s." One article gives CONTENTS President Daniel J. Cosgrove 814-863-3892 Pre sid e nt's Le tter President-Elec t Vicki L. Chandler 520-676-8725 Sp ring Le cture s a t UC -Berkel ey Immediat e Past President Deborah P. Delmer 530-752-7561 Secretary Daniel R. Bush 217-333-6109 Ne w W e b-Ba se d M anuscript Tra c king Treasurer Mark R, Brodl 309-341-7477 Syste m ;Publish A head o f Print Chair, Board of Trustee s Donald R.Ort 217-333-2093 A SPBM e m b e rs Ele cte d to NAS Chair, Publications Committee Krishna K. Niyogi 510-643-6602 Lette rs to the Editor Chair, Committee on the Status of Women in Plant Physiology Ann M. Hirsch 310-206-8673 Pla nt Biology 2001 Award Ho nore e s Chair, Committee on Minority Affairs Robert Vellanoweth 323-343-2148 Bioethics Elected Members Rebecca S. Boston 919-515-2727 Joe Chappell 606-257-4624 Grad Student Perspe ctive s Roger Hangarter 812-855-5456 Sec tional Represent atives Fo othills Footno tes Midw estern steven Rodermel 515-294-8890 Northeastern Carol Reiss 401-863-3075 A SPB Aims to Inc rease M embership Southern Joyce G. Foster 304-256-2809 Washington, DC Janet P. Slavin 301-504-5629 A SPB Exhibits a t MI ST C areer Fa ir Western Dina Mandoli 206-543-4335 Sectio n News Execu tive director John Lisack,Jr., ext. 115 jlisack@aspb,org People: Julia n I. Sc h ro e d e r Executive a ssistant Donna Gordon, ext, 131 dgordon@aspb,org Pa ui Wi llia m s Directo r of finance and admini stration SusanK,Chambers, ext. 111 c hambers@aspb,o rg The Plant Ce ll Ed itoria l Bo ard Meeting Accountant Sondra A. Glancoll, ext, 140 giancoli@aspb,org Network administrator BurtonNicodemus, ext, 146 burton@aspb ,org Renov a t io ns at Headquarter s Webmaster Wendy Salhi,ext, 123 wendys@aspb,org Memb ership and marketing manager Kelley Noone, ext. 142 [email protected] New Staff Subsc ription and fulfillment assi stant Mary Bush, ext. 141 [email protected] Public Affairs Accoun ts receivable specialist Stephanie Liu-Kuan,ext. 143 [email protected] Accounts pay able specialist Stefanie Shamer, ext. 144 [email protected] Ed uc a t ion Forum Administrative assistant Carolyn Freed, ext, 122 cfreed@aspb .org Director of public affairs Brian M. Hyps, ext. 11 4 bhyps@aspb .org O b ituarie s Education Foundation director RobinLempert, ext. 110 rlemp [email protected] Gatherings Founda tion assistant Paula Brooks, ext. 116 [email protected] Direc tor of publications Nancy A. Winchester, ext. 117 nancyw@aspb .org Jobs Publicationsassistant Sylvia Braxton Lee,ext. 133 sbroxtontsospb .orq Manag ing editor, Plant Physiolog y MelissaJunior, ext. 118 mjunior@aspb,org Deadline for Sep tember/ O cto ber 2001 Science writer, Pia nt Physiology PeterMlnorsky, 914-437-7438 pe minorsky@aspb,org Produc tion manager, Plant Ph ysiolog y LaurenA. Ransome,ext, 130 ASPB News: August 10, 2001 Iransome@aspb,org Manuscript coor dinator. Plant Physioiogy LeslieMalone , ext. 124 leslie@aspb,org Managing edito r, The Plant Cell BethStaehle, ext, 121 [email protected] News and reviews editor, The Plant Cell Nancy Eckardt. 970-495-9918 [email protected] Production manager. The Plant Cell Jennifer Fleet, ext, 11 9 [email protected] Senior manuscript coordinator, The Pla nt Ce ll Annette Kessler, ext. 120 [email protected] ASPB News is distributed to a ll ASPB members and is pubiished six times annually, In odd -numbered mo nths. It Ised ited and prepared by ASPS sta ff from material provide d by ASPB members and other Interested parties. Headquarters O ffice Co py deadline is the 10th day of the preceding even-numbered 15501 Monona Drive month (for example, Dec ember 10 for January/February pub lication). Roc kville, MD 2085&-2768 USA Submit copy by e-mail whenever possible; submit all other copy by Phone : 301-251-0560 ma il, not by fax. Fax: 301-279-2996 Contact: Nancy A. Wincheste r, Editor, ASPB Ne ws, 15501 Mon ona Drive, Rockville, MD 20855-2768 USA; e-mail no ncvwcsospb.orq: tele­ ph one 301-251-0560, ext. 117, Spring Lectures in the Department of Plant & Microbial Bloloqv. UC-Berkeley Th e Dep art ment of Plant & M icrobial Biol­ Angela Hay, and Rachel Wh itaker. rnent. T he title of her lecture was "Peroxide ogy at the University of Ca lifornia at Berke­ O n April 9, postdoctor al scholars selected Processing in Plan t Cells: Antioxida nt Co u­ ley sponsored thre e specia l lectur es this spring Peter Schiirmann, a profe ssor at the Univer­ pling and Redox Signaling." Foyer described as part of its annual Departmental Seminar sity of Ncuchar cl , as th e fir st Bo b B. her research on how pero xide, derived fro m Series. Buch anan Lect urer. Hi s topic was ti tle d oxygen, is processed by plants with special T he department held th e second annual " From O bserva tions to Molecular Struc tures: reference to its ro le in regulat ory processes. Da niel I. Arnon Lect ure on March 5, with The Eme rgenc e of th e Fe rredoxin/ Dr. Foyer, wh o led a multidisciplinary resear ch spea ker George Lorimer, a distingu ished pro­ T hioredoxin System. " The subject of the lec­ gro up, had edited severa l boo ks and serves fessor in the Dep artment of Chemistry and ture stemmed from research on the regula­ on the editor ial boards of a num ber of scien­ Biochemistry at the University of Maryland. tion of photosynthesis Schiirmann carried ou t tific journals. Lorimer described his work wit h chape ro nins, with Buchan an at UC-Berke ley in the 1960s The Buchanan and Tsujimoto lectu res ar e a group of pro teins that help other proteins and early 1970s.
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