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A-Z index

Ronald Bailey
USA USA
Science correspondent at the libertarian Reason magazine.
Profiles: Powerbase
Links to: Cato Institute, Competitive Enterprise Institute, Hudson Institute, Reason, Wise Use

 Janet Bainbridge
UK
Former chair Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes (ACNFP)
Profiles: Powerbase
Links to: Food Standards Agency

 Peter Barfoot
UK
Agricultural economist and co-director with Graham Brookes of PG Economics, which brings out regular reports commissioned by the biotech industry claiming extraordinary successes with GM crops.
Profiles: Powerbase
Article: GMOs cut greenhouse gas emissions, says new report
Links to: Graham Brookes, ISAAA, AgBioForum

 Gerard Barry
 Ireland
Worked for Monsanto for 20 years and credited with having found the gene for glyphosate tolerance that made Monsanto's Roundup Ready crops possible. Coordinator of the Golden Rice Network at the International Rice Research Institute. Advisor to the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF).
Profiles: Powerbase
Links to: International Rice Research Institute, Ingo Potrykus, Monsanto

 Roger Bate
UK
Free market lobbyist who promotes an industry agenda from multiple platforms, including aggressively promoting GM and attacking organics.
Profiles: Powerbase 
Articles: How the Battle Over a Pesticide Led to Scientific Skepticism
Links to: Julian Morris, Dennis Avery, European Science and Environment Forum, Institute of Economic Affairs, American Enterprise Institute, Competitive Enterprise InstituteInternational Policy Network 

 Patrick Bateson
UK
Former biological secretary of Royal Society, involved in attacks on Dr. Arpad Pusztai.
Profiles: Powerbase
Links to: Royal Society

 David Baulcombe
UK
Controversial former head of Sainsbury Laboratory at the John Innes Centre.
Profiles: Powerbase
Article: False Reports and the Smears of Men
Links to: John Innes Centre, Royal Society

 Roger Beachy
USA USA
First director of USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Founding president of the Monsanto-backed Danforth Plant Science Center.
Profiles: Powerbase
Links to: Chris Lamb, Danforth Plant Science Center 

Beckett Brown International, Inc. (BBI)
USA USA
Private security firm hired by PR agencies like Ketchum and Nichols Dezenhall (now known as Dezenhall Resources) to spy on groups working to expose GMO safety concerns. Clients included Dow Chemical and Monsanto. Firm's name subsequently changed to S2i.
Articles: Black Ops, Green Groups
The dirty history of corporate spying  
Greenpeace finds itself in cross hairs 
Video: Greenpeace Spygate lawsuit breaks on CNBC 
Links to: Ketchum, Nichols Dezenhall

Bell Pottinger Good Relations
UK
PR firm that's worked for Monsanto.
Profiles: Powerbase
Links to: David Hill, Monsanto

 Andrew Bennet
UK
Executive director of Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture.
Profiles: Powerbase
Links to: Syngenta Foundation 

Alex Berezow
USA 
USA
Former Vice President of Scientific Communications at the industry front group the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) and contributor to the Genetic Literacy Project, which works with Monsanto. He's also the founding editor of Real Clear Science and is on the USA Today editorial board of contributors but USA Today does not disclose Berezow’s ACSH affiliation or ACSH's corporate funding despite repeated complaints. Berezow co-authored with Hank Campbell the book, Science Left Behind: Feel Good Fallacies and the Rise of the Anti Science Left.
Articles: Alex Berezow Hates Science, Is a Menace to Public Health  
Council on Strategic Risks Cuts Ties With Alex Berezow     
Links to: 
Elizabeth WhelanHenry I. MillerDennis Avery, Gilbert Ross, Hank Campbell, Cameron EnglishJon Entine

 Rick Berman
USA USA
Berman has been called the "king of corporate front groups and propaganda" and his PR firm Berman & Co aggressively targets GM and food industry critics, among others.
Profiles: Powerbase and Sourcewatch
Articles: Why Tricky Ricky's carping about GE fish campaign
'Win Ugly or Lose Pretty': Industry Talk Secretly Taped
5 Astroturf Groups You Should Stop Sharing From
Links to: Center for Consumer Freedom, ActivistCash 

Sir Colin Berry
 UK
Emeritus professor of pathology, and former Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Pesticides, who has consulted for Monsanto, BASF, Bayer and DuPont. He is a shareholder in Spiked and an advisor to Sense About Science and the Scientific Alliance, among others.
Profiles: Powerbase 
Articles: Phony experts with veiled conflicts of interest polluting debates on endocrine disruptors, glyphosate, GMOs
Smelling a Corporate Rat
Links to: International Policy Network, Science Media Centre, Spiked, Scientific Alliance

Biofortified (Biology Fortified Inc)
USA 
USA
A non-profit for pro-GMO activists listed by Monsanto as one of its "industry partners". Its directors have included Kevin Folta, Pamela Ronald, David Tribe and its co-founders Karl Haro von Mogel and Anastasia Bodnar. According to one critic, "The group's name gives away its PR-centric mission: to disguise a technology used chiefly to promote greater pesticide use as one that instead produces non-existent crops 'biofortified' with vitamins and minerals to alleviate malnutrition."
Profiles: USRTK and Sourcewatch  
Articles: Once aligned to fight for Monsanto, GMO activists now battle among themselves 
How "the Biofortified boys" defended the pesticide industry's secrets in Hawaii
New row erupts over Folta’s failure to disclose lucrative Bayer consultancy
Why Is the Co-Founder of a Monsanto "Industry Partner" Advising the USDA Secretary?
Links to: Anastasia Bodnar, Karl Haro von Mogel, Kevin Folta, Pamela Ronald, David Tribe, Mary Mangan, Cami Ryan, Drew Kershen, Calestous Juma, Steve Savage, Kavin Senapathy

 Biogemma
France
The biotech research arm of Limagrain.
Profiles: Powerbase
Links to: Pierre Pagesse

 BioScience Communications Ltd
New Zealand
Former PR company with links to Life Sciences Network, which lobbies for GM foods.
Profiles: Powerbase
Links to: BioScience News and Advocate, Communications Trumps, Life Sciences Network

 BioScience News and Advocate
New Zealand
Pro-GM website with links to the PR company Life Sciences Network.
Profiles: Powerbase
Links to: BioScience Communications Ltd, Communications Trumps, Life Sciences Network

 Bio-Scope
Germany Switzerland
Pro-GM website co-edited by Klaus Ammann and supported by EuropaBio.
Profiles: Powerbase
Links to: Klaus Ammann, EuropaBio

 Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
UK
Major public funding body, closely aligned with the biotech industry.
Profiles: Powerbase
Links to: Peter Doyle, Syngenta

 Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO)
USA USA
The biotech industry's major trade association, formerly known as the Biotechnology Industry Organization.
Profiles: Powerbase
Links to: L. Val Giddings, Patrick Moore

 Biotechnology Institute
UK
Funded by Monsanto and Novartis. Produced pro-GM leaflet for schools.
Profiles: Powerbase
Articles: Fury at Pro-GM School Magazines
Links to: Scottish Enterprise

 Biotechnology Outreach Society of Zambia
Zambia
"Spearheading biotech outreach in Zambia". Headed by Luke Mumba.
Profiles: Powerbase
Links to: Luke Mumba

 Bivings Group
USA USA
Controversial PR firm that worked for Monsanto on internet PR.
Profiles: Powerbase
Article: The Fake Persuaders, Corporate PhantomsImmoral Maize
Links to: Jay Byrne, Mary Murphy, C. S. Prakash, Andura SmetacekCenter for Food and Agricultural Research

Anastasia Bodnar
Co-founder and a former director of Biofortified and an advisor on biotechnology to Secretary Tom Vilsack of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). One time member of the Kevin Folta fan club.
USA USA
Articles: Why Is the Co-Founder of a Monsanto "Industry Partner" Advising the USDA Secretary?
Once Aligned to Fight for Monsanto, GMO Activists Now Battle Among Themselves
Links to: Biofortified, Karl Haro von MogelKevin Folta, Pamela Ronald, David Tribe, Mary Mangan, Kavin Senapathy

Hidde Boersma 
 Netherlands
Dutch publicist, microbiologist, and co-founder, with Mark Lynas, of ecomodernist campaign group WePlanet (formerly RePlanet), which has been accused of having "all the hallmarks of a sophisticated astroturf organisation" in its attempt to rebrand ecomodernism as more of a grassroots citizens' movement than a lavishly funded industry-aligned campaign promoting GMOs, nuclear power and synthetic food. Boersma has produced a film promoting GM crops, is planning another promoting GM mosquitoes, and has been trying to crowdfund yet another defending glyphosate. Boersma also helped author the book Ecomodernisme (2017), the publicity for which claims: "There are no limits to growth... Solar panels and wind turbines are a costly mistake, nuclear energy is the future. Organic farming will not feed the world, intensive farming will." Was the coordinator for WePlanet of the so-called "Laureate's letter" in support of the deregulation of new GMOs in the European Union.
Articles: George Monbiot's ally RePlanet accused of smelling "like astroturf"
George Monbiot teams up with Mark Lynas and the ecomodernists to Reboot Food
“Laureates’ letter” misled signatories about GMO regulation in Europe, has industry’s fingerprints all over it
See also: RePlanet, Mark LynasPatricia Nanteza, RePlanet Africa

 Norman Borlaug
USA USA
Green Revolution scientist and keen supporter of pesticides, including DDT, and the "Gene Revolution". The only agricultural scientist to have received a Nobel Peace Prize, Borlaug is credited with saving millions from mass starvation. But recent historical research is forcing a complete rethink on the Green Revolution, suggesting the number of lives Borlaug actually saved may have been zero.
Profiles: Powerbase
Articles: Historians rethink the Green Revolution
New histories of the Indian Green Revolution
Links to: American Council on Science and Health, C. S. Prakash

 Rebecca Bowden
UK
Involved in the Royal Society attacks on Dr Arpad Pusztai.
Profiles: Powerbase
Article: Pro-GM food scientist 'threatened editor'
Links to: Royal Society, Lord David Sainsbury

Stewart Brand
USA USA
The once editor of The Whole Earth Catalog is a strong champion of nuclear power, GM crops, synthetic biology, cloning and geoengineering. A signatory of An Ecomodernist ManifestoMark Lynas acknowledges Brand as a major influence. In recent years Brand has become particularly associated with the rebranding of Jurassic Park-type cloning as "de-extinction" (bringing back the woolly mammoth etc.), which has been called "a transparently phony concept" that "in general won’t work as typically advertised". 
Profiles: Powerbase 
Articles: The Repentant Environmentalist: Part 3 
When will Stewart Brand admit he was wrong? 
Dear Stewart Brand: If we can't trust your claims on DDT, why should we trust you on anything else? 
Should We Be Trying to Bring Extinct Species Back to Life?
The Zen PlayboyOn Floating Upstream
Links to: Mark Lynas, Ryan Phelan, Patrick Moore, George Church

Breakthrough Institute
 USA
Think tank co-founded by Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger, who helped co-author An Ecomodernist Manifesto. They have been described as "lobbyists for techno-fixes who engage in endless battles with environmentalists." Shellenberger left Breakthrough in 2015. The Breakthrough Institute's "Food and Agriculture Analyst" Emma Kovac aims to enhance "understanding and appreciation of the environmental benefits of agricultural biotechnology." Kovac's boss at Breakthrough, Ted Nordhaus, has appeared on tax forms as a board member of the Science Literacy Project - the parent organisation of the Monsanto-funded Genetic Literacy Project, where Kovac previously worked.
Article: The New Denial is Delay at the Breakthrough Institute
Links to:
Ted Nordhaus, Michael Shellenberger, Emma KovacMark LynasOwen PatersonMatt RidleyPamela RonaldJulie Kelly, Tamar Haspel, Keith Kloor

 Graham Brookes
UK
Agricultural economist and co-director with Peter Barfoot of PG Economics, which brings out regular reports commissioned by the biotech industry claiming extraordinary successes with GM crops. Reviewer for Academics Review's organic attack report.
Profiles: Powerbase
Article: GMOs Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Links to: Peter Barfoot, ISAAA, AgBioForum, Academics Review 

Tracey Brown
 UK
Director of Sense About Science since shortly after its formation in 2002. Part of the LM Group as was her original Assistant Director at Sense About Science, Ellen Raphael. Both also previously worked for the PR firm Regester Larkin. Brown earlier sought to collaborate with the tobacco industry.
Profiles: Powerbase 
Articles: Seeding Doubt: How Self-Appointed Guardians of “Sound Science” Tip the Scales Toward Industry
'Science one, whining greenies nil'Smelling a corporate rat 
Links to: Sense About Science, Dick TaverneLM group, Science Media Centre

Derek Burke
UK
Former chair of the UK's regulatory committee on GM foods (ACNFP) and a leading lobbyist for GM crops.
Profiles: Powerbase
Articles: The GM Godfather
Links to: Nuffield Council, ACNFP, Ian Gibson, John Innes Centre 

 T.J. Buthelezi
South Africa
Farmer who has travelled the world promoting GM crops for Monsanto.
Profiles: Powerbase
Articles: The Uncle Tom Award, A Disaster in Search of Success
Report: GM Crops and Sustainable Poverty Alleviation in Sub-Saharan Africa (particularly pp.53-55)
Links to: AfricaBio, Monsanto

 Jay Byrne
USA USA
Monsanto's controversial former director of public affairs and chief internet strategist. President and CEO of the PR firm v-Fluence, which is located, like Monsanto, in St Louis. Heavily involved in the attacks on the research of Ignacio Chapela and Gilles-Éric Séralini. Organized press event with Nobel Laureates to attack Greenpeace over GMOs. Helped set up Academics Review as a Monsanto front group. PR advisor (2014-Present) to the (Cornell) Alliance for Science. A co-author of Let them Eat Precaution: How politics is undermining the genetic revolution in agriculture, edited by Jon Entine and published by the American Enterprise Institute.
Profiles: Powerbase and USRTK and SourceWatch
Articles: Immoral Maize, The Covert Biotech WarSmelling a Corporate Rat
How the #Nobels4GMOs campaign is rife with biotech industry ties
Barred from Nobel laureate press conference107 Nobel Laureate Attack on Greenpeace Traced Back to Biotech PR Operators
Monsanto Fingerprints Found All Over Attack On Organic Food
Links to: v-FluenceAgBioView, AgBioWorld, Bivings Group, Center for Food and Agricultural Research, Mary ManganMary Murphy, C. S. Prakash, Andura Smetacek, Jon Entine, American Enterprise InstituteMark Lynas, Cornell Alliance for ScienceL. Val Giddings, Academics Review, Bruce Chassy, Eric Sachs, Sarah Evanega, Keith Kloor

A-Z index