Marie Allen, Associate professor, Uppsala University, Sweden
Marie Allen has a PhD from Uppsala University, the departments of Medical Genetics and Forensic Medicine. She did her post doc at F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd in California and has since her return to Sweden worked with Forensic Genetics at the department of Genetics and Pathology at Uppsala University. Her research is focused on forensic DNA technology development. A general aim is to obtain rapid, sensitive and highly discriminating DNA tests for criminal casework samples. New sensitive techniques can also be used to analyse degraded historical samples to answer biohistorical questions.

Philip J Dale, Professor at the Department of Crop Genetics, John Innes Centre, United Kingdom
Professor Philip Dale is Leader of the Genetic Modification and Biosafety Research Group at the John Innes Centre, Norwich, UK. He worked in agriculture for several years before graduating in Agricultural Botany and obtaining a doctorate in Plant Genetics. As Research Group Leader at the Plant Breeding Institute, Cambridge he was involved in the first field experiments with GM crops in the UK and led several UK EU research programmes on the biosafety assessment of GM crops. He has been a member of the UK Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE) and the UK Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes. In 2000 he joined the newly formed Agriculture and Environment Biotechnology Commission, to provide the UK Government with independent strategic advice on developments in biotechnology and their implications for agriculture and the environment. He was a member of the GM Public Debate Steering Board, the GM Science Review Pane and advised the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit on GM crops.

Pierre Fillet, Secretary General of Euro-CASE
Pierre Fillet holds a PhD in Engineering Sciences and has been research director at Rhône Poulenc. He is now Secretary General of Euro-CASE (the European Council of Applied Sciences, Technologies and Engineering), which is a non-profit organization of Applied Sciences and Engineering Academies from 18 European countries. The organisation is one of the partners of the Science Generation project. Dr. Fillet is member of the French Academy of Technology and also a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences.

Rainer Gerold, Director of Science and Society, DG Research, European Commission
Rainer Gerold studied law and economics at the University of Bonn and obtained his PhD in international law. He has been working at the Oberlandesgericht (regional court of appeal) and after that joined the Federal Ministry for Research and Technology in Bonn and became assistant to the State Secretary. In 1974 he moved to CERN in Geneva, to take up a position as assistant to the Director General while at the same time fulfilling the role of secretary of the CERN directorate. In 1978 he became administrative director of the GSF (National Research Centre for Environment and Health) in Munich.
Rainer Gerold is now in charge of the directorate "Science and Society". He has been working for the European Commission's Directorate General 'Science, Research and Development' since 1982. He has been director responsible for budget and personnel and research contracts, director responsible for co-operation with third countries and international organisations, and between 1999 and 2000 he led the directorate 'Life Sciences I'.

Minna Gillberg, Research Fellow at Lund University and Senior Advisor to Margot Wallstrom, Commissioner for the Environment, European Commission
Minna Gillberg obtained a PhD in Sociology of Law through studies at Oxford and Lund University. Her research has in main focused on sustainable development, industrial practice and corporate social responsibility. Since 1995 she has worked as an advisor to several international corporations and European Governments. At the present she works as senior advisor to Margot Wallstrom, until now the EU Environmental Commissioner, while maintaining a research fellowship at Lund University, Sweden.

Kristina Glimelius, Professor at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden
Kristina Glimelius has been a professor in Genetics and Plant Breeding at the Swedish University of Agricultural Scieces (SLU) since 1989 and Vice Principal of the University since 2002. Her research interests concerns biotechnology and plant breeding, including studies of the genetic regulation of plant development. She is member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA) and the Royal Academy of Agriculture and Forestry (KSLA). She has been scientific expert in several committees in the field of plant biotechnology and bioethics, and also member of the Swedish Gene Technology Advisory Board. Kristina Glimelius acts since 2002 as chairperson of KASAM, the Swedish National Council for Nuclear Waste, an independent committee attached to the Ministry of the Environment.

KG Hammar, Archbishop in the Church of Sweden
Archbishop KG (Karl Gustav) Hammar became a priest already when he was 22 years old. He is a doctor of theology and became Archbishop in the Church of Sweden in 1997. Being Archbishop means that he is the first representative of the Church of Sweden. In his capacity as Archbishop, he takes an active part in the public debate, often on issues with great ethical complexity, such as genetic integrity.

Mats G Hansson, Director of the centre for Bioethics at Karolinska Institutet and Uppsala University, Sweden
Mats G. Hansson is Associate professor of ethics, Director of Centre for Bioethics at Karolinska Institutet and Uppsala University. He received his first degree in biology and took his doctoral degree in ethics. At the Faculty of Medicine in Uppsala he has established a multi-disciplinary research program working with central issues in bioethics. Research questions range from ethical, social and legal aspects regarding the implementation of genetic diagnosis in clinical practice, the use of human tissue material in research, identification of language genes, production of transgenic animals to traditional issues in medical ethics regarding prioritizations in situations where health care resources are limited.

Beate Kettlitz, Food Policy Advisor, the European Consumers' Organisation, BEUC
After finishing her studies of food chemistry at Humboldt University in Berlin in 1975, Beate Kettlitz worked at the Hygiene Inspection Services in Potsdam and was there in charge of foodstuffs.
After the successful achievement of a special professional certificate in the field of hygiene practice in 1978, she continued her professional engagement in the Regional Hygiene Institute of Potsdam. She became responsible for the control and professional advice for dairy products, dietetic products, baby food and other foodstuffs as field and later department manager.
After her arrival in Brussels in 1991 she worked as an adviser on technical regulatory aspects for the food industry.
As of May 1999, Beate Kettlitz started her professional carrier as a food officer at BEUC.

Angus Macdonald, Director of the Genetics and Insurance Research Centre, United Kingdom
Angus Mcdonald has a BSc in Mathematics (Glasgow) 1981, a PhD in Actuarial Science (Heriot-Watt) 1995 and became a Fellow of the Faculty of Actuaries in 1984. He worked with Scottish Amicable until 1989 and then joined the Department of Actuarial Mathematics and Statistics at Heriot-Watt University. He is today Director of the Genetics and Insurance Research Centre (GIRC) which carries out quantitative research into the financial implications of human genetics, and he is also Honorary Librarian of the Faculty of Actuaries.

Lennart Nyman, Conservation Director, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Sweden, and Associate Professor of Genetics, Uppsala University
Lennart Nyman has a PhD in Genetics (Uppsala) and became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry in 1993. He has written popular articles on GMO and potential effects on natural ecosystems and participated in seminars and symposia where GMO issues have been debated.

Christian Patermann, Director of Biotechnology, Agriculture and Food DG Research, European Commission
Christian Patermann holds a doctor of law from the University of Bonn. He has worked both at the Federal Ministry of Science and Education and the Federal Ministry of Research and Technology in Bonn and has been Science Counsellor at the German Embassy in Washington D.C., USA. In 1978 he became Head of the German "International Nuclear Fuel Cycle Evaluation" (INFCE) after which he was Head of Unit of Multinational Cooperation, which for instance included being Chairman of ESA Administrative and Finance Committee, Vice President of EMBL Council and German Delegate to ESA, ESO, EMBL Council. After being Spokesman and Director of Staff of German Federal Minister of Research and Technology, Dr. Patermann in 1996 started to work at the European Commission as Programme Director of "Preserving the Ecosystem" and "Global Change and Ecosystems". He is now Programme Director of "Biotechnology, Agriculture & Food", Research Director-General, European Commission.

Ulf Pettersson, Professor Uppsala University, Sweden
Ulf Pettersson has been a professor in Medical Genetics at Uppsala University since 1981 and Vice Principal of the University since 2002. His research interests concerns human diseases linked to genetics. He has been the scientific expert in several committees in the field of bio-ethics and genetic integrity, i.e. a recent Swedish parliamentary committee on genetic integrity.

Ingo Potrykus, Professor Emeritus, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Switzerland
Ingo Potrykus is a professor emeritus in plant sciences at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich. He is also Chairman of the Humanitarian Golden Rice Board and Humanitarian Golden Rice Network. Professor Potrykus is dedicated to use the potential of genetic engineering technology to reduction of malnutrition in developing countries.

Karin Sandström, Political Officer, The Swedish Disability Federation
Karin Sandström works as political officer at The Swedish Disability Federation. The Swedish Disability Federation consists of 43 disability organisations in Sweden with about 475 000 individual members. The work as political officer involves contacts within the disability movement and externally towards the Government, Parliament and other national authorities. Karin Sandström works primarily with different areas of the health care system and among those medical-ethics issues.

Peter Sandøe, Chair of the European Association for Agricultural and Food Ethics
Peter Sandøe has a PhD in philosophy from the University of Oxford. In his capacity as Professor in Bioethics at The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University in Copenhagen, Denmark, the major part of his research lies within bioethics with particular emphasis on ethical issues related to animals, biotechnology and food production. He is committed to interdisciplinary work combining perspectives from natural science, social science and philosophy. He is director of the Centre for Bioethics and Risk Assessment, an interdisciplinary and inter-institutional research centre and Chairman of the Danish Ethical Council for Animals, an advisory board set up by the Danish Minister of Justice. He is also president of The European Society for Agricultural and Food Ethics.

Lena Torell, President of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences
Lena Torell is President of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA) since August 2001. She was appointed Professor in Solid State Physics at Uppsala University in 1987 and Professor in Material Physics at Chalmers University of Technology in 1989. In 1995–98 Lena Torell served as Vice President of Chalmers University before joining the European Commission as Director of Programmes of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) 1998–2001. Lena Torell is Member of the Board of several research foundations, research institutes and companies, among others Euroatom Scientific and Technical Committee, L.M. Ericsson, Gambro AB and Micronic Laser Systems AB.

Mathias Uhlén, Professor, Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden
Mathias Uhlén is Professor of Microbiology at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden. Dr Uhlén is member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Science (IVA), the Royal Swedish Academy of Science (KVA) and the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). He has more than 250 original research publications, which covers fields such as genomics, production of recombinant proteins, protein engineering, protein design and bioautomation. He has co-founded several biotech companies based on his research, including Pyrosequencing (now Biotage), Affibody and SweTree Technologies. He has received several awards for his research, including The Svedberg Prize, The KVA Göran Gustafsson Prize, the Pierce Prize, The IVA Gold Medal and the Serafimer Medal.

Kristofer Vamling, Scientific Coordinator, Plant Science Sweden AB
Kristofer Vamling has a position as scientific coordinator at the plant biotech company BASF Plant Science in Sweden. He has an education background in plant physiology, genetics and plant breeding at the Lund University and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. He has nearly twenty years of experience from companies engaged in the field of plant biotechnology and plant breeding. But he has also been one of the key actors in the public debate about plant biotechnology and food production for the last ten years in Sweden. His experience covers numerous national as well as international lectures, debates and media contacts.

Li Westerlund, Lawyer, RydinCarlsten Advokatbyrå, Sweden
Li Westerlund holds a doctor of laws in Biotech Patents and has published books and several articles and chapters in the patent-legal and related fields. Dr. Westerlund is practising law at the Swedish law firm RydinCarlsten in Stockholm, focusing primarily on the life sciences field and specifically on patents. Dr. Westerlund is also a U.S. Attorney-at-law. Her previous positions include working at the biotech patent group at McKenna Long & Aldridge, LLP, in Washington DC and at the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Thomas Östros, Swedish Minister for Education and Science
Thomas Östros has a licentiate degree in Economics and a degree in Public Administration. He is Minister for Education and Science in Sweden since 1998. In 1996–1998, he was Minister for Taxation at the Ministry of Finance and before that, Member of Parliament. Mr Östros is a member of the Social Democratic Party