Here you can find a selection of ECRs (early-career researchers) and supporters of #GiveGenesAChance.
Hamburg, Germany
“The current regulatory frame covering organisms obtained through NGT is ambiguous and limiting the development of new plant varieties with high potential on the achievement of the EU’s Green Deal. The current legislation includes authorisation, traceability and labelling requirements that are not appropriate for NGT plant and its products. NGTs and their products are developing rapidly, but mainly outside the EU because of the restrictions imposed by the legislation. According to EFSA for certain NGTs there is no new hazards compared to conventional breeding, and this has allowed experts to conclude that risk assessment needs to be done on the same basis and under case-by-case approach.
I used to use biotech to create new plant varieties with improved nutritional profiles, and now I use biotech to create awareness about myths and reality of the new breeding technologies.”
Paulo Peralta
Elvas, Portugal
“We use biotech to fight plant pests and diseases!”
Alpar-Vajk Kramer, PhD; Diana Sousa, MSc; Cristina Azevedo, PhD; Cátia Patrício, MSc; Miguel Teixeira, MSc; Augusto Franco, MSc; Pedro Rosa, MSc; Cláudia Rato, PhD; Margarida Basaloco, BSc; Ana Cláudia Silva, PhD; Jordana Branco, MSc; Asmae Jlilat, PhD; Diana Acácio, MSc; Ana Miguel Reis, BSc; Hadi Sheikhnejad, MSc.
Düsseldorf, Germany
“I use biotech to understand the mechanisms a plant uses to survive an environment and how to make the plant better survive a harsh environment.“
Mary Ngigi, BSc
Wageningen, Netherlands
“We use biotech to develop Cattlelyst, a biofilter that uses genetically optimized bacteria to filter harmful methane and ammonia gases from cow stables.”
Sophie, Jenny, Marta, Delielena, Thomas, Sanne, Morris, Anemoon, Sophieke and Riemer (iGEM Team Wageningen)
Valencia, Spain
“I use biotech to create new cultivars biofortified with carotenoids”
Manuel Rodríguez Concepción
Paris, France
“Genome editing is a chance to build all together a more sustainable agriculture.”
Yann Duroc, PhD
Gatersleben, Germany
“I use biotech to work on the establishment of cell cultures for genome editing in (crop) plants.”
Diaa, PhD
Murcia, Spain
“We use biotech to genetically engineer fruit trees for breeding.”
Lorenzo Burgos, PhD
Gatersleben, Germany
“I use biotech to improve drought tolerance of barley!”
Irene, MSc
Brussels, Belgium
“We use biotech as one tool to help make the feed and food chain more sustainable.”
Martina, MSc
Wageningen, Netherlands
“I use Biotechnology to create a sustainable future / make the
future planet-proof.”
Hazel, BSc
Ghent, Belgium
“I use biotech to study plant root development.”
Nick
Elvas, Portugal
“I use biotech to fight plant pests and diseases!”
Rita Hasse Ferreira, MSc
Düsseldorf, Germany
“I use biotech to understand how plants work.”
Svenja, BSc
Gießen, Germany
“Traditional or marker-assisted breeding approaches almost exceeded their potential to breed crops for high yields in favorable or unfavorable conditions. With the rapidly growing population, we need another green revolution to ensure at least one meal for all, and gene-editing technology can only be the option for us to reach that yield potential in the shortest possible time. Cultivable land is not increasing; instead, crops face several unfavorable conditions along with the land shortage. The research with gene-editing technology can be the key factor for the next green revolution.”
Muhammad Shahedul Alam, MSc
Aachen, Germany
“I use biotech to fight plant-pathogenic fungi.“
David, MSc
Milan, Italy
“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.” – Indian proverb
“I use biotech to build a green world for next generations.”
Carlotta, BSc
Louvain, Belgium
“I use biotech to develop crops with better nutritional quality and performance under climate challenges.”
Kaushal, PhD
Göttingen, Germany
“I use biotech to develop resilience in crops to heat stress”
Abul Khayer, MSc
Ciudad Real, Spain
“As a biomedical researcher, I use biotech to develop new drugs as treatments for inflammatory, tumoral and dermatological human diseases.”
José Manuel Pérez Ortiz, PhD
Münster, Germany
“I use biotech to shed light on how plants control their energy usage. Because I feel very strongly about preserving our environment, I regard genetic engineering of plants as a particularly powerful tool on our way towards genuine sustainability.”
Markus, PhD
Leuven, Belgium
“I use biotech to study plant-fungi interactions”
Barbara, PhD
Vienna, Austria
“We use biotechnology to make the discoveries that allow us to create improved plants to fight the problems of the future.”
Lorenzo Picchianti, Nenad Grujic, Madlen Stephani, Marintia Nava, Ni Zhan, Mai Thu Bu, Yasin Dagdas, Victor Sanchez de Medina, Marta Garcia Leon, Jose Julian Valenzuela, Marion Clavel, Alibek Abdrakhmanov, Jierui Zhao (GMI Vienna)
Espoo, Finland
“I use biotech to produce biopharmaceutics and food-related products in plant-based systems.”
Noemi, MSc
Supporters:
Hannover, Germany
“We need to make informed decisions and should not be guided by our gut feeling when facing the challenges of the future.
Decisions always carry the risk of being wrong, especially if the best information is not used to make the decision. Science is our best source of information and should be our guide.
I use biotech to learn how plants work.”
Claus-Peter Witte, Professor
Düsseldorf, Germany
“I use biotech to better understand plant performance and to provide breeders and farmers information to grow their plants.”
Götz Hensel, PhD
Tübingen, Germany
“Please, give genes a chance!”
Detlef Weigel, Professor
Berlin, Germany
“I help people using biotech responsibly to tell their stories and create impact in politics and civil society.”
Nele Hermann Valente, MSc
