Why is no-one from Rothamsted taking part in this event?

This event is not about the Rothamsted trial, although the debate about that was what prompted us to organise it. Obviously, debates about GM crops go much wider than whether one particular trial should go ahead.

We still thought it would be useful to have someone from Rothamsted taking part – both to have their view as part of the discussion, and also so people with questions about that trial could get answers straight from the horse’s mouth.

We asked Rothamsted if they would like to participate. They had a think about it, but decided they couldn’t do it.

This was because the team directly working on the trial is very small (four people) and they are really behind on their science work. Over the last few weeks they’ve spent a lot of time answering questions from the media, and so on, which has taken them away from their normal work. They now need to catch up with the actual research – counting aphids, running tests, etc – so that they can find out the things the trial was supposed to find out.

So, we don’t have anyone from Rothamsted, but we do have a range of other people with expertise in plant science, genetics, ecology, agriculture, development and other issues, and with a range of views.

Some of those people are also funded by BBSRC, the research council who funded the Rothamsted trial. Hopefully anything the Rothamsted researchers would have contributed, someone else will be able to contribute. Staff from Rothamsted will visit the website when they get a chance, and may comment if there are specific points about this particular trial.

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