SAN DIEGO, June 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Today in front of the Convention Center
where the Biotechnology Industry Organization is meeting, activists are
sailing a giant 1500 square-foot banner which reads "Biotech Perverts -- Get
Out of Our Genes". Held aloft by several large weather balloons, the banner is
being flown like a kite by several organizers from Biojustice and the Ruckus
Society.
    "There are thousands of biotech industry representatives coming to town,
who are perverting agriculture, science, nature and democracy as we know it.
These perversions impact human health and the well-being of all life." said
Shannon Service.
    The biotechnology industry perverts nature. The patenting of genes and
life forms has turned nature into a set of commodities to be stolen and
manipulated for corporate profits.
    The biotechnology industry perverts science.  At the policy level,
approval data for genetically modified organisms are generated by the
companies that stand to gain from positive results. Around the world, an
unholy relationship between the science regulators, such as the FDA, and the
biotech industry has lead to the stifling and dismissal of critical, or simply
cautionary, scientists.
    The biotechnology industry perverts food security.  The most deadly lie
peddled by the biotech industry is that genetic engineering (GE) will solve
the problems of a hungry world. This lie misrepresents the nature of global
hunger as technical rather than political. Hunger stems from poverty, war, and
problems of access, none of which are addressed by GE crops.  The truth is
that small farmers, having access to land and saving seeds, will feed the
poorest of the world-- not giant biotech agribusiness companies.
    The biotechnology industry perverts democracy. The industry has employed
various political strategies in order to release their products without
regulation or informed public consent. The continually revolving door between
the industry and the agencies whose job is to regulate the industry is the
most insidious of these strategies.  The current Deputy Director of the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is Linda Fisher.  Appointed by President
Bush, she formerly worked as head of Monsanto's DC Lobby office.
    "This message is intended to float above the fog of the biotech PR
machine," said Ruckus Society Director John Sellers.  "The biotech industry is
committing perversions against nature in the name of profit. We cannot allow
it to continue."

    Biojustice is a coalition organized to shine the light of public scrutiny
on the threats genetic engineering poses to human health, food safety, and the
environment.

    The Ruckus Society is dedicated to providing campaign support and training
to help human rights and environmental organizations achieve their goals.

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