Contributors
Professor Derek Burke is Emeritus Professor at UEA, where he was previously Vice Chancellor. His main research focus was interferon and he was Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes.
Professor Ian Crute is Director of Rothamsted Research. He has 35 years’ experience in horticultural and agricultural science, with interests in plant pathology, crop genetic improvement and sustainability of production systems. Read more
Professor Phil Dale is an Emeritus Fellow at the John Innes Centre, where he researched the safety and environmental impact of GM plants. He served on national and international regulatory bodies assessing GM crops. He is now evaluating production of HIV AIDS antibodies in plants. Read more
Dr Alan Dewar is Director of Dewar Crop Protection Ltd and has 30 years’ experience in agricultural entomological research in BBSRC institutes. Read more
Professor Malcolm Elliott is the Founding Director of The Norman Borlaug Institute for Crop Improvement. His main research focus is on molecular biological approaches to cereal improvement.
Dr Helen Ferrier is the National Farmers Union’s Chief Science and Regulatory Affairs Adviser. Her main areas of policy expertise are agricultural science and research, biotechnology, food science, labelling and nutrition.
Professor Les Firbank is Head of North Wyke Research, where interactions between grassland farming and the environment are studied. Les is an ecologist, who led the UK Farm Scale Evaluations of GM Crops. Read more
Professor Mike Gale FRS is a plant geneticist and a John Innes Foundation Emeritus Fellow of the John Innes Centre. He is also a member of the Science Council of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). Read more
Professor Peter Gregory is Chief Executive and Director of the Scottish Crop Research Institute. His research has involved studies of root/soil interactions in many countries. Read more
Dr Wendy Harwood is a Strategic Research Scientist working at the John Innes Centre on improving the methodology for producing GM crops, particularly cereals, and on the safety assessment of GM crops. Read more
Mr David Hill won a Nuffield Farming Scholarship and has travelled around the world to study biotech crops. He currently farms 525 hectares of potatoes, beans and sugar beet among other crops, and raises beef cattle.
Professor Roger Hull is a John Innes Foundation Emeritus Fellow of the John Innes Centre and has worked alongside decision-makers in developing countries on biosafety issues and researching the structure and function of plant viruses.
Professor David James is an Emeritus Fellow at East Malling Research and led a plant biotechnology programme working on the molecular biology and tissue culture of fruit plants.
Professor Jonathan Jones FRS is Head of Laboratory at The Sainsbury Laboratory and a member of the Royal Society working group on food security. Read more
Professor Chris Lamb FRS is Director of the John Innes Centre. His research interests are in molecular mechanisms and biotechnological enhancement of plant disease resistance, as well as plant signal transduction and natural product functions. Read more
Professor Chris Leaver FRS is Emeritus Professor of Plant Science, and formerly Sibthorpian Professor and Head of Department of Plant Science, University of Oxford. Read more
Professor Alan Malcolm is the Chief Executive of the Institute of Biology. He has a background in academic biochemistry and then food research. He was previously Director of the Institute of Food Research.
Professor Vivian Moses is an Emeritus Professor of Microbiology at Queen Mary & Westfield College and has been a full-time researcher in biochemistry and microbiology. He is now primarily concerned with communicating science to the public and chairs CropGen, a group of individuals who respond to questions on biotechnology. Read more
Professor Pat Nuttall is Director of the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH), the UK’s Centre of Excellence for integrated research in terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems and their interaction with the atmosphere. Her research interests are in viruses transmitted by ticks. Read more
Ms Ellen Raphael is UK Director of Sense About Science.
Dr Dee Rawsthorne is the Outreach Coordinator for the Norwich BioScience Institutes and was previously a researcher in plant pathology.
Professor Alison Smith has worked at the John Innes Centre for over 25 years studying how plants make and use starch, to understand its synthesis and turnover in potatoes, peas, cereals and Arabidopsis. She is an honorary Professor in Biological Sciences at UEA. Read more
Dr Duncan Stanley is a post-doctoral researcher at the John Innes Centre. His research focuses on the breakdown of starch in barley seeds during germination.
Dr Philip Taylor is Managing Director of South Darenth Farm. He grows organic fruit and has grown GM crops. Prior to farming he carried out research on the molecular biology of plant pathogen interactions.
Professor Joyce Tait is Scientific Adviser to the ESRC’s Innogen Centre (Innovation in Genomics), an interdisciplinary programme to study the social and economic implications of advances in the life sciences. Read more
Ms Kate Thodey is doing postgraduate research at the John Innes Centre. Her research focuses on the genetic regulation of carbon and energy metabolism in plants.
Dr Roger Turner is a soil chemist. He was formerly Chief Executive of the British Society of Plant Breeders.
Professor Michael Wilson has over 35 years of teaching and research experience on the molecular genetics, structure and pathology of plant RNA viruses in biotechnology. He is now Editor of the Journal of Horticultural Science & Biotechnology.
Last updated: May 01 2009