Waiter! There's a Gene in my Soup! Wednesday June 30, 1999, 7-9pm Science in the Pub is an initiative of the NSW branch of the Australian Science Communicators (ASC NSW). Tonight we join forces with the Australian Biotechnology Association to take a look at one of the areas of biotechnology that is currently receiving a lot of attention from both the press and the public. This is the issue of genetically modified foods in the market place. We'll be discussing the questions of safety, labelling and a number of ethical concerns. This joint session provides an opportunity to hear the informed views of our panellists for the night, Ms Carole Renouf, Senior Policy Officer, Australian Consumers Association and Dr T J V Higgins, Chief Research Scientist and Program Leader CSIRO Plant Industry. Our scintillating Science in the Pub compere, Dr Paul Willis-ABC Radio science broadcaster-will lead the discussion in the congenial pub atmosphere while sampling one of the world's oldest biotechnology products-beer! Regular Sydney Science in the Pub sessions are held on the last Wednesday of the month from February to November. Funding through the Science and Technology Awareness Program has allowed us to stage sessions around Australia. Carol Renouf has worked with the Australian Consumers Association (ACA) for ten years. She is a Senior Policy Officer, and in that role, protects and advocates for consumer rights with government, industry and the media. Between 1994 and 1996 she spent two years in Europe, working for Consumers International (the federation of consumer organisations worldwide) on biotechnology. On her return to Australia in 1996, she initiated work towards the first Australian consensus conference on gene technology in the food chain, which finally took place in March this year. Acting as the ACA's spokesperson on gene technology, Carole has focused on the food arena. She has been a passionate promoter of the views that each application of biotechnology must be judged on a case-by-case basis; clear benefits to the consumer are not yet prevalent in food uses of the technology; consumers must be informed, not just on labels but also about the broad issues of biotechnology; and consumers must also be re-integrated into the decision-making process. TJ Higgins TJ Higgins' major research focus is the application of gene technology for plant improvement. He is particularly interested in improving the nutritive value of plants for feed and food uses. He believes that nothing in life is risk free, including the food we eat - whether or not it is genetically modified. Born in Ireland, TJ's first degrees were from the National University of Ireland. In 1971 he gained his PhD from the University of California in Davis, USA and came to Australia to take up the position of Post-doctoral Fellow in the Department of Developmental Biology at the Australian National University in Canberra. Shortly after, he joined the CSIRO Plant Industry where he is currently in the Chief Research Scientist and Program Leader. In 1981, he returned to the United States as the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellow at the University of Washington in Seattle. He has received a vast number of Honors and Awards over the years, the most recent being the Pharmacia-LKB Biotechnology Medal from the Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 1993. He was made a Fellow of the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering in 1997. And true to the tradition of Science in the Pub, Carole and TJ have prepared their `abstracts' in verse. AND TO HEAR THOSE VERSES YOU WILL HAVE TO BE AT THE SESSION!   `Science in the Pub'(TM) is an initiative of the Australian Science Communicators (NSW) and supported by the Australian Broadcasting Commission. It is staged from 7.00-9.00 pm on the last Wednesday of the month (Feb - Nov) at the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel (also known as the Harlequin Bar), 152 Harris Street, Pyrmont, 2009. (Telephone (02) 9660 8146. UBD Map ref pg235 P10.) Dinner is available from the Gong Thai restaurant attached to the pub. Parking is available at the Star City casino carpark; stret parking is difficult. Casino. For further information on `Science in the Pub' please contact Robyn Stutchbury on rstutch@ozemail.com.au of Peripatus Productions Pty Limited, 1 Carisbrook Street, Lane Cove 2066, Tel: 02 9427 6747, Fax: 02 9418 9605 Next Science in the Pub session Thursday 8, July SciPub XXIV: `Greenhouse warming is a lot of hot air' Professor Ian Plimer, School of Earth Science, University of Melbourne and Professor Ann Henderson-Sellers, Director, Environment, ANSTO and member of National Greenhouse Advisory Panel. In the Stewarts Hotel, cnr of Elgin & Drummond Streets, Melbourne, from 7:30-10:00pm. Note: this meeting is only available through booking. Contact the Meteorology CRC, 03-9905-9660 (T), 03-9905-9689 (F), email crc@vortex.shm.monash.edu.au. Wed July 28, SciPub XXV: `Space Exploration, bang or bust' with Jeff Kingwell (CRC for Satellite Systems) and Philip Young (National Space Society), on the 30th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing.
Science in the Pub™, © 2000. Stutchbury, R, Burton, M.