BIOTECH SECTOR WITHERS AS PUBLIC PROTESTS
Conference on biotechnology held in Genoa
Worry for genetically modified crops brought millions to protest at the International Tebio conference held on Thursday 25 in Genoa.
The new center left government opposes GM crops and anti Gm environmentalists such as Greenpeace and the Greens organized a march against biotechnology while delegates from universities and bioscience companies complained of having to work in an unfavourable climate.
According to the latter, Agriculture Minister Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio (Green) and some regional authorities are slowing down research projects and are harming the development of biotech industry and in so doing are also hindering job creation.
Agriculture Minister said he opposed experimentation with GM crops and several industrialists complained that experimental trials of GM crops have almost ended.
Marche, Tuscany and Lazio have banned cultivation and marketing of GM crops and the province of Genoa did the same after the biotech conference.
At the conference, Italian University academics denounced the havoc created around GM crops and the ignorance regarding the potential benefits in the field of medicine and lamented that such an attitude only succeeds in creating obstacles on the path of scientific progress.
On the other hand opposers claim that the real effects on health and on the environment are still unknown and that GM food is already on the market without the information due to the public.
As regards the biotech industry Italy is far behind other countries because of scarce investment and labor and industrialists fear that the Genoa manifestation will not improve matters and may even encourage researchers to leave the country.
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