New European panel to promote bioscience

The European Commission has set up a panel of 11 prominent biologists to advise it on the scientific aspects of public controversies sparked by advances in bioscience and biotechnology, reports Nature. The 'Biosciences High Level Group' (BHLG) was set up by research commissioner Philippe Buskin to complement the existing advisory group on bioethics.

The new panel aims to put scientists directly in touch with European policy-makers, and to campaign for more effective industrial exploitation of research findings. It will also address public concern about issues such as genetically modified food, genetic screening, biomedicine and the patenting of biotechnological inventions.

The preliminary results of a recent 'Eurobarometer' opinion poll on biotechnology revealed that most respondents felt uninformed about biotechnology. 'I want to ask scientists to return to the debating table, as Europe needs to make sure that it has a sound basis for discussing these issues' said Busquin. He added that a 'conscious political decision' relating to the biosciences was not possible without informed advice and public debate.