Armin Fiechter - Böcker

Greengenetechnology(GGT),understoodasapartofmodernbiotechnology, has been on a steady, triumphal progression over the last ten years (ISAAA 2007, see thecontribution byEinsele in thisissue). This volume, jointly edited byProf. Fiechterandme,dealswithsomeactualscienti?candsocio-economic aspects with regard to genetically modi?ed plants (GMP). Worldwide more than 100 million hectares of agronomical land are covered by GMP. This - cludes some prominent industrialised Western countries like the USA and Canada,aseriesofthresholdcountrieslikeArgentina,Brazil,IndiaandChina, and a number of developing countries. Clearly, some of these countries have to deal with crop plant production and human nutrition in a very pragmatic way since, for example, India has to feed about a 1/5 of the world population on about 3% of the arable land. In contrast, the situation in Europe appears very different. Food supply is more than suf?cient and comparably inexp- sive. This surplus of food is on one hand convenient, since starvation has been largely unknown in Europe for about 50 years, with only comparatively few exceptions of socially peripheral individuals.On the other hand it makes the population careless about the future food supply. Even beyond mere food supply, Europe gained its culturalvalues fromitsagricultural success over the centuries. Asinglefarmerbecameabletofeedmoreandmorepeoplemaking them free towork outside of agriculture as a craftsman, artist,poet, scientist, engineer,mayor,administrativeof?cial,priest,philosopher,orsoldier-togive only a few examples. In the public perception this connection between agr- omyandculturalwelfareisnotsuf?cientlyappreciatedinEurope. Switzerland, geographically in the centre of Europe (although not a member of the pol- ical union) has the same cultural tradition, only somewhat shifted towards the more conservative mood commonto mountain populations.

Greengenetechnology(GGT),understoodasapartofmodernbiotechnology, has been on a steady, triumphal progression over the last ten years (ISAAA 2007, see thecontribution byEinsele in thisissue). This volume, jointly edited byProf. Fiechterandme,dealswithsomeactualscienti?candsocio-economic aspects with regard to genetically modi?ed plants (GMP). Worldwide more than 100 million hectares of agronomical land are covered by GMP. This - cludes some prominent industrialised Western countries like the USA and Canada,aseriesofthresholdcountrieslikeArgentina,Brazil,IndiaandChina, and a number of developing countries. Clearly, some of these countries have to deal with crop plant production and human nutrition in a very pragmatic way since, for example, India has to feed about a 1/5 of the world population on about 3% of the arable land. In contrast, the situation in Europe appears very different. Food supply is more than suf?cient and comparably inexp- sive. This surplus of food is on one hand convenient, since starvation has been largely unknown in Europe for about 50 years, with only comparatively few exceptions of socially peripheral individuals.On the other hand it makes the population careless about the future food supply. Even beyond mere food supply, Europe gained its culturalvalues fromitsagricultural success over the centuries. Asinglefarmerbecameabletofeedmoreandmorepeoplemaking them free towork outside of agriculture as a craftsman, artist,poet, scientist, engineer,mayor,administrativeof?cial,priest,philosopher,orsoldier-togive only a few examples. In the public perception this connection between agr- omyandculturalwelfareisnotsuf?cientlyappreciatedinEurope. Switzerland, geographically in the centre of Europe (although not a member of the pol- ical union) has the same cultural tradition, only somewhat shifted towards the more conservative mood commonto mountain populations.

The Japanese biotechnology community has developed a unique system of scientific bilateral communications at the international level. It consists of closed seminars where a restricted number of speakers from Japan and a selected country are invited. Thereby the actual state of biotechnology is visualized very effectively and valuable information exchanged during the discussions and personal contacts. As a result strong relationships between several European and American countries have been built up during recent years and numerous colleagues from abroad have improved their knowledge of Japanese science, economy, and culture. The present volume reports on an American-Japanese meeting held in Moriyama, which is situated on the lovely Lake Biwa in Japan. The well prepared and efficiently organized event covered the major aspects of bioprocess engineering including animal and plant cell culture, biocatalysts, downstream processing, sensor and bioprocess control, as well as genetic engineering. Altogether a broad spectrum, indicating the strengths and weaknesses of the current efforts being made for the improvement of process technology and the search for new products.

History of Modern Biotechnology, devided into two volumes (69 and 70), is devoted to the developments in different countries. N.W.F. Kossen: The Morphology of Filamentous Fungi.- H. Bockeer, W.A. Knorre: Antibiotica Research in Jena from Penicillin and Nourseothricin to Interferon.- K. Schugerl: Development of Bioreaction Engineering.- R. Katzen, G.T. Tsao: A View of the History of Biochemical Engineering.- J. M. Woodley: Selected Advances in Enzyme Technology.- H.R. Bungay: Computer Applications in Bioprocessing.- W. Beyeler, E. DaPra, K. Schneider: Automation of Industrial Bioprocesses.-