Annual report
2011 proved to be a challenging and busy year for COGEM. Highlights were the evaluation and two well-attended symposia. In addition, a very high number of advisory, topic and research reports were published.
The output of 64 publications in 2011 equalled previous records. The advisory, topic and research reports reflected the dynamic developments of the past year. Dutch and European regulations played a key role in these developments.
An international committee of experts evaluated COGEM from a European perspective. Accompanying its positive opinion were several recommendations by the evaluation committee, amongst others to strengthen the cooperation between national and international organisations on biosafety. The direct presentation of important COGEM publications to the government was the only recommendation that was not endorsed by the state secretary.
Troughout the year, two international public symposia and an expert workshop were organised. In January the symposium ‘GM viruses as medicine: Panacea or Pandora’s box?’ focused on the use of replicating viruses for the treatment of cancer. The results of the closed expert workshop on synthetic biology will be further explored in a topic report in 2012. The lively symposium ‘GM animals: perspectives and perceptions’ served as input for the topic report on GM animals, which has been published in early 2012.
The annual report is published in Dutch. For an overview of activities and publications realised in 2011, you may:
- download the English summary of the annual report as PDF
- request a hard copy of the annual report by e-mailing your address to info@cogem.net. Hard copies of previous annual reports are also available.