Welcome and opening remarks

Abstract

In the public debate on the biosafety of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), the results and even the existence of GMO biosafety research are often ignored. As a consequence, the already established stable basis for a science-based discussion on GMO biosafety is not fully explored. Therefore, a main prerequisite to improve the science-based discussion on GMO biosafety and the science-based decision-making for placing GMOs on the market is to focus and strengthen the voice of GMO biosafety research. The International Society for Biosafety Research, ISBR, plays a key role in this process. An important tool is the biennial International Symposium on Biosafety of Genetically Modified Organisms (ISBGMO). ISBR aims to promote scientifically sound biosafety research by improving communication among scientists who study plants, animals, and microbes with new characteristics due to altered DNA and produced using modern biotechnology. By fostering communication and technical exchange among experts, ISBR supports the science used in biosafety assessment processes and promotes constructive dialogue on important science-based biosafety issues associated with GMOs. Specific activities designed to achieve these aims are (i) organizing an international symposium focused on the biosafety of GMOs, (ii) sponsoring scientific publications such as Environmental Biosafety Research, the only international scientific journal entirely devoted to GMO biosafety research, which publishes original work describing advances in the field of biosafety research in the broadest sense, and (iii) supporting a multidisciplinary approach to ensuring the safety of GMO products through scientifically sound risk assessment that supports regulatory decision-making. Biosafety research is the foundation for expanding the knowledge base used in risk assessments and, as such, is essential for performing robust and credible assessments necessary for making sound decisions. Biosafety research is largely funded and performed to provide concepts, models, and data that allow biosafety issues to be defined and analyzed and uncertainty to be understood. Understanding the potential for adverse environmental effects from GMOs and the characterization of associated risks depends not only on quality of biosafety research but also on ongoing interaction between risk assessors, regulators and researchers. In an attempt to measure, debate and perhaps manage the range and degree of risk posed to the environment, our forebears in the EU, US and elsewhere convened a Symposium in 1990 in Kiawah Island, North Carolina. The first conference, entitled "Biological Monitoring of Genetically Engineered Plants and Microbes" reflected the state of technology at the time. The second Symposium, entitled "The biosafety results of field tests of genetically modified plants and micro-organisms"