All biotech has a stake in agbio controversy

The biosafety protocol negotiations earlier this year in Cartagena, Colombia, should have alerted all of us to the potential for the fervor of the foes of agricultural biotechnology to spread to all of biotech, including the biomedical sector.

Although the biosafety protocol was intended to address questionable fears about agricultural products, representatives of developing countries and non-governmental organizations expanded its scope to cover all products of genetic engineering, including biomedical products and research materials. Indeed, negotiations over the protocol broke down in part because of the refusal by the U.S. and allied nations to accept restrictions on international shipments of biomedical materials...