FAQ
This page was designed to enable you to find certain information quickly. Please send us your feedback: What is useful for you? Do the answers provided serve your needs? Do you have additional information we should include? We will try to update this FAQ page according to your needs.
Questions
Where will I ...
... find information and material to print out and inform others?
... find basic information about genetic engineering?
... find information on a specific GMO?
... find the key documents on the planned Seed Directive?
... find the relevant institutions in the European Union?
... find the relevant institutions in my country?
... send letters to Members of the European Parliament or get in contact with them?
... get in contact with other supporters of the SOS initiative in my country?
... find out more about the Pro-GMO lobby, PR agencies and companies activities
Answers
... find out more about genetics, molecular biology and genetic engineering
Here is a list of links to web pages, which will provide you with introductions to the technologies and the issue of genetic engineering from different perspectives.
DNA Tour of the Basics short introduction to basic concept of DNA
DNA from the beginning A sophisticated educational introduction to classical and molecular genetics
Glossary of Biotechnology terms a searchable glossary maintained by Kimball Nill of the American Soybean Association
Introduction to Genetic Engineering by The Union of Concerned Scientists including explanations and links
Origins - How James Watson's Cold Spring Harbour Laboratories present the discovery of DNA (including the original submission of Watson and Crick 1953)
DNA interactive a very fancy (flash) presentation of some basic concepts of DNA and Genetic Engineering as well as a celebration of the short history of molecular genetics in the form of a scientist's personality show also from Cold Spring Harbour
Mendelweb contains Mendel's original in full text (German and English) and a lot more
The Tree of Life Web Project is collaboratively produced by biologists from around the world to provide information about the diversity of organisms on Earth, their history, and characteristics on 2,600 websites
Fed up - an online video from San Francisco interviewing many critical and not so critical scientists about Genetic Engineering
What is genetic engineering? a short introduction with many links by an organisation called "Physicians and Scientists for the Responsible Application of Science"
Harvest of Fear a sophisticated pro and con argument site by public broadcasting services in the US
... find information on a specific genetically modified organism
The European Union's Joint Research Centre (JRC) runs the Community's official homepage on deliberate releases and placing on the EU market of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). It includes a list of experimental releases and a list of applications for placing on the market (commercial releases, also called part C) in so called SNIFs (Summary Notification Information Format) and "assessment reports" about each GMO. The public can submit comments within 30 days after publication of these SNIF directly on this website. The JRC also provides a database on all GMO detection methods available and tested.
The most comprehensive inventory of GMOs approved worldwide with details about the DNA transformation and worldwide approval status (June 2003, updated every 6 months) can be downloaded from the Swiss Centre for Biosafety Assessment, Technology and Sustainability (BATS). It is a large 199 page pdf file, which we advise you to download (also as zip) once and then use offline.
For a quick overview on which GMOs are presently approved for what purpose and which GMO approvals are presently pending within the EU, have a look at the Annexes of the EU Commission's general Questions and Answers on GMOs.
The OECD also runs a database of GMOs which is searchable by organism, country, company and unique identifier.
In the US the USDA's Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (Aphis) provides a list of GMOs for which a non-regulated status (approval) has been sought and/or applied for. The US Food and Drug Agency (FDA) provides a list of GMOs, for which the consultations have been completed, which includes some explanation of the US approval system as well.
In the future you can also check in their minutes whether the European Food Safety Authority's Scientific Panel on genetically modified organisms took any position on individual GMOs.
You will also find a lot of information under Dossiers
... find the relevant institutions in my country
Try the links below:
Biosafety regulatory ministries and institutions
In your country there is a ministry in charge of the safety assessment and approval of GMOs. You can find out by checking the OECD database on biosafety regulatory developments, which provides a list of regulatory institutions in all countries.
Standing Committee on Seeds
There is a seed regulatory institution, which represents your country in the "Standing Committee on Seeds". It is appointed by the ministry. Below is a participants list of one of the last meetings. We also have collected a partial list of persons attending the Seed Committee, but they may change. Please let us know, if you have newer information.
GMO-free Europe an excellent site hosted by Friends of the Earth.
... get in contact with the Members of the European Parliament
You can find a list of all Members of the European Parliament on the European Parliament website. It includes their party affiliation, the committees they work on and other functions. It even contains a (usually short) declaration of financial interests. At the very least, you will find office contact information in Brussels (forget Strasbourg). But you should try to find out their local address and contact information, which is either listed directly or may be found on the homepages of some of the members list there. The most effective way is to call their home offices or to write or fax a letter there and to ask for a reply. The least effective (but easiest) approach is an email to them. You will also find the contacts to the Commisioners, who are directly responsible for the policy on GMOs here.
... get in contact with other supporters of the SOS initiative in my country
1. Click on the flag on the left side of the page, and select your country to look for organisations.
2. Click on List of all signers (database sorted by country) and select your country.
3. Write an e-mail to us, and we will try to povide you with the relevant contacts.
... find out more about the pro-GMO lobby network and PR activities of GM companies
Europa-Bio is the capital EU Biotech-Lobby organisation based in Brussels. It has a large membership both of "red" and "green" biotech industries and provides a complete membership register of national biotech organisations and companies.
There is a very instructive webpage on the biotech-boom in the USA, including an impressive listing of all presidential campaign contributions and lobby expenditures of major GMO industries in the USA according to Congress reports by "Capital eye".
GM watch, an anti-GMO campaign, provides a list of lobbyists, scientists, institutions and PR companies worldwide, who actively promote GMOs in agricultural and whom they call the "Biotech-Brigade". Not all of their judgments may be unbiased, but its a very useful list to find out about frequently quoted and publishing individual's and institution's affiliations.
