Public Debate: Biotechnology, IP and 21st Century Crops

First in the series of three debates on global food security was held on 26 November 2012, in London.

Debate 1: Biotechnology, Intellectual Property and Twenty First Century Crops

Question and Answer session:

Video recordings of the individual speaker presentations are available below. Or you may view the entire event recording here: http://sms.cam.ac.uk/media/1381186.

Themes at the first debate

• What is the relative role of private industry and publicly-funded research in promoting agro-biotechnologies?
• Is technological innovation the primary way to address the challenge of food security?
• What are the strategic priorities of the biotechnology industry?
• Might the utilisation of agro-biotechnologies limit other options for agrarian reform?
• What is the impact of GMOs on food safety and seed security? Is there a necessary trade off between these two concerns

Chair:
	Professor Christopher Gilligan Chair, Cambridge University Strategic Initiative in Global Food Security; Professor of Mathematical Biology, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge
Speakers:
	Dr Derek Byerlee Indpendent Researcher and Author of the World Bank World Development Report 2008 Agriculture for Development.  Video recording of Dr Byerlee's Presentation
	Professor Ian Crute Chief Scientist, Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board. Lead Expert Group for the UK Foresight project on Food and Farming Future Video recording of Prof Crute's presentation
	Professor Jack Kloppenburg University of Wisconsin. Distinguished environmental sociologist and award winning author of First the Seed: The Political Economy of Biotechnology. Video recording of Prof Kloppenburg's presentation