No. 3/February 9, 2007
Cell
biologist and cancer researcher Professor Achim Leutz of the Max Delbrück
Center for Molecular
Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch has been appointed to the Central Commission for
Biological Safety (ZKBS). Germany’s Consumer Protection Minister Horst Seehofer
appointed the researcher, who is also member of the European Organisation for
Molecular Biology (EMBO), to be a deputy member in the field of cell biology
for a term of three years. As the ZKBS also announced, the minister appointed
two other experts to the commission: Professor Regine Hakenbeck of the
Technical University Kaiserslautern for the field of microbiology and Professor
François Buscot of the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research (UFZ)
Leipzig for the field of ecology. With Professor Leutz and Professor Buscot,
two centers of the Helmholtz Association are represented in the ZKBS at the
same time.
The work
of the 16 members of the ZKBS and their 16 deputy members is voluntary. The
Commision evaluates genetically modified organisms (GMO) for possible risks to
humans, animals, and the environment and provide written reports of their
findings.
The ZKBS
was founded in 1978 and fulfills its mandate according to the Genetic
Engineering Act, which came into effect in 1990. The office of the ZKBS is
located in Berlin
at the Federal Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL), which is
within the portfolio of the German Federal Ministry for Nutrition, Agriculture,
and Consumer Protection.
Barbara
Bachtler
Press
and Public Affairs
Max Delbrück
Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC)
Berlin-Buch
Robert-Rössle-Straße
10
13125 Berlin
Phone:
+49 (0) 30 94 06 - 38 96
Fax: +49 (0) 30 94 06 - 38 33
e-mail: presse@mdc-berlin.de
http://www.mdc-berlin.de/englisch/about_the_mdc/public_relations/e_index.htm
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