Pamela Ronald

Pamela Ronald is Professor of Plant Pathology at the University of California, Davis. She wrote a book with her organic farmer husband, Raoul Adamchak, suggesting that organic and GM farming could co-exist and that GM is the way forward for sustainable agriculture. The book is called Tomorrow's Table: Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of Food. Ronald runs a blog called Tomorrow's Tablehome page, Tomorrow's Table blog, accessed 23 May 2010, which is one of just four "Biotechnology Blogs" that Monsanto's blog provides a link to.Beyond the rows, a blog by Monsanto, acc 12 June 2010
 
Ronald co-authored an article in the New York Times arguing that "genetic engineering can be used not just to modify major commodity crops in the West, but also to improve a much wider range of crops that can be grown in difficult conditions throughout the world". She claimed, "Drought-tolerant cassava, insect-resistant cowpeas, fungus-resistant bananas, virus-resistant sweet potatoes and high-yielding pearl millet are just a few examples of genetically engineered foods that could improve the lives of the poor around the globe."PAMELA C. RONALD and JAMES E. McWILLIAMS, Genetically Engineered Distortions, NYT, 14 May 2010, acc 12 Jun 2010 But examples cited by the bangmfood.org project suggest that when it comes to creating crops that are suited to "difficult conditions", conventional breeding - often assisted by a non-GM genetic technology, marker assisted breeding - is way ahead of GM.Non-GM breakthroughs, bangmfood.org, acc 12 Jun 2010 Oddly, Ronald does not mention any of these non-GM breakthroughs, which have occurred with a fraction of the expense of GM technology and none of the hype.
==GM promoter shows why Monsanto's data untrustworthy==
The Australian NGO, MADGE (Mothers Are Demystifying Genetic Engineering), says it was told by Western Australia’s agriculture minister, Terry Redman, that Ronald’s book “contains guidance to help the public distinguish rumours from high quality science." MADGE decided to rate the GM canola Monsanto material that FSANZ (Food Standards Australia New Zealand) used for their food approval, against the checklist in the book. This is their commentary, with Ronald's checklist in the numbered points and MADGE's responses underneath, indented: 
:1. Examine the primary source of information.
::Yes, we've got the Monsanto GM RR canola data and we've examined it.
:2. Ask if the work was published in a peer-reviewed journal. 
::No, [only] after approval of RR canola by FSANZ, [was] the trout production study ... written up for publication.
:3. Check if the journal has a good reputation. 
::No, the Monsanto material wasn't published.
 
:4. Determine if there is an independent confirmation by another published study. 
::No, the GM RR canola is a patented product and there was no independent confirmation. FSANZ relied solely on material provided by Monsanto.
 
:5. Assess whether a potential conflict of interest exists. 
::Yes, Monsanto is presenting its own work to advocate for the safety of its own product.
::Astoundingly the authors [Ronald and Adamchak] also say: "If governmental regulators were to rely solely on data supplied by parties whose primary concern is not the public good but private interest, then the public would have reason to question the integrity of the research."
::This is exactly why MADGE has been questioning the integrity of the research.
:6. Assess the quality of institution or panel. 
::No journal, no panel, no university - just Monsanto. 
:7. Examine the reputation of the author. 
::Here is a list of some of Monsanto's achievements: 
::*2002: found guilty of conduct "so outrageous in character and extreme in degree as to go beyond all possible bounds of decency so as to be regarded as atrocious and utterly intolerable in civilized society".Michael Grunwald, Monsanto Held Liable For PCB Dumping, Washington Post, 23 Feb 2002, acc 2 Jun 2010 Monsanto had released tons of PCBs into the city of Anniston and covered up its actions for decades.Michael Grunwald, Monsanto Hid Decades Of Pollution, Washington Post, 1 Jan 2002, acc 2 June 2010 
::*2005: fined $1.5million for bribing an Indonesian officialMonsanto fined $1.5m for bribery, BBC News, 7 Jan 05, acc 2 Jun 2010, in a bid to avoid environmental impact studies on its Bt cotton 
::*2007: fined by a French court for misleading the public about the safety of Roundup. The verdict was confirmed in 2009.Monsanto guilty in 'false ad' row, BBC News, 15 Oct 09, acc 2 Jun 2010 
::*Oct 2009: investigated by the US Department of Justice on antitrust issues related to possible monopolistic practices.Christopher Leonard, Monsanto a Focus of US Antitrust Investigation, ABC News, 8 Oct 09, acc 2 Jun 2010 
::*9th February 2010: a former Managing Director of Monsanto India admitted that in his time Monsanto falsified scientific evidence for regulatory approvalDinesh C. Sharma, Monsanto 'faked' data for approvals claims its ex-chief, INdia Today, 9 Feb 2010, acc 2 Jun 2010. 
::*Swiss research firm Covalence's Ethical Quote system once again ranked Monsanto last on their ethical listing of multinationals; Monsanto was 581st behind companies such as Halliburton and Philip MorrisMonsanto the least ethical company, Combat Monsanto website, acc 2 Jun 2010
::So under Pamela Ronald's own criteria it seems that the scientific evidence in support of GM is not credible.Tomorrow's table - GM promoters show why Monsanto's data untrustworthy, MADGE Digest No #107, May 22nd 2010, acc 27 May 2010
==GM rice and the Genetic Resources Recognition Fund==
Ronald has her own laboratory at UC Davis, called the Ronald Laboratory. According to her biography on the UC Davis website:
:Her laboratory has genetically engineered rice for resistance to diseases and flooding, both of which are serious problems of rice crops in Asia and Africa.Ronald Biography, Ronald Laboratory website, accessed 23 May 2010 
Ronald cloned the disease- and flood-resistant gene from a wild rice variety found in Mali and UC Davis patented it. According to an article in the Sacramento Bee, Ronald "encouraged the university [UC Davis] to create a benefit-sharing fund" (the Genetic Resources Recognition Fund or GRRF).
This is how the Ronald Laboratory website describes the University of California, Davis's GRRF: "Part of the royalties derived from the licensing of academic discoveries using developing countries' materials can be used to fund fellowships, land conservation efforts, or other projects that will benefit the developing nation partner." Pamela Ronald is the contact name given.Genetic Resources Recognition Fund (GRRF), Ronald Laboratory website, acc 23 May 2010
According to the Sacramento Bee article, the GRRF was intended to give something back to the people of Mali in return for their rice germplasm:
:first, scholarships for Mali students and later, disease-resistant rice to help feed the impoverished country. There was talk of future health clinics and conservation programs, even using the gene to battle hunger and poverty in other corners of the world.Tom Knudson, Seeds of Doubt: Mali's people reap no reward from cloned wild-rice gene, Sacramento Bee, 6 Jun 2004, acc 23 May 2010
However, reported the Sacramento Bee:
:Eight years later, no help whatsoever has arrived. The Genetic Resources Recognition Fund that UC Davis officials hoped would turn university patents and corporate profit into a model of social responsibility has a balance of zero.Tom Knudson, Seeds of Doubt: Mali's people reap no reward from cloned wild-rice gene, Sacramento Bee, 6 Jun 2004, acc 23 May 2010
The article noted that the Bela people of Mali from whom the rice gene was taken were unimpressed by UC Davis's patenting:
:When informed that university officials half a world away in California owned a part of their culture, a gene from their rice - and were licensing it to biotechnology corporations - the Bela were puzzled, even angry.
:As she sat inside a grass hut weaving reeds into brooms and fans in the Bela backwater of Musawere, Fadimata Walet Alkhassane - a 40-year-old mother of two - expressed the view of many:
:“For the man who took something from our rice, I only want to ask him for help so we can leave these bad conditions where we live without adequate water, garments and shoes.”Tom Knudson, Seeds of Doubt: Mali's people reap no reward from cloned wild-rice gene, Sacramento Bee, 6 Jun 2004, acc 23 May 2010
Interestingly, while UC Davis's website hypes Ronald's flood-tolerant rice as a genetic engineering breakthrough,Ronald Biography, Ronald Laboratory website, 2006, acc 10 Sept 2011 Ronald actually developed the rice through marker-assisted breeding. The resulting rice is not genetically engineered.Xu K, Xu X, Fukao T, Canlas P, Maghirang-Rodriguez R, Heuer S, Ismail AM, Bailey-Serres J, Ronald PC, Mackill DJ. 2006. Sub1A is an ethylene-response-factor-like gene that confers submergence tolerance to rice. NATURE 442: 705-708.Pamela Ronald has developed a more flood-tolerant rice, Earthsky, 18 Jan 2010, acc 12 Jun 2010 And other non-GM flood-tolerant rice varieties have been developed with marker assisted breeding.PHILIPPINES: Could flood-resistant rice be the way forward?, IRIN News, 5 Feb 09, acc 12 Jun 2010
==The science of Tomorrow's Table==
===GM food safety===
Ronald's book, Tomorrow's Table, features a friendly chat (placed just after a recipe for "Spicy Eggplant") between Ronald and a friend, "Anne", who supports the ban on growing GMOs introduced in Marin County, California. Anne worries that GM foods may not be safe for human consumption and the environment. Ronald sets her mind at rest on this by citing the opinions of the National Academy of Science (2004) and the UK GM Science Review (2003) that the GMOs on the market are "safe to eat".Pamela Ronald, Tomorrow's Table, OUP, 2008, p. 69 
As for the National Academy of Sciences report, "Safety of Genetically Engineered Foods: Approaches to Assessing Unintended Health Effects" (2004), Ronald's comments on it raise the question of whether she has even read it.NAS, Safety of Genetically Engineered Foods: Approaches to Assessing Unintended Health Effects (2004). This is because the NAS report gives many cautions about the safety of GM foods. For example, it notes that agronomic comparisons of GM foods with non-GM equivalents, done as part of the development research on GM crops, "tend to be superficial and could easily miss some varieties containing altered compositions that could impact adversely on human health".NAS, Safety of Genetically Engineered Foods: Approaches to Assessing Unintended Health Effects (2004) It advises "postmarketing surveillance" of GM foods after they are marketed to look for possible health effects, though admits that this has "not been used to evaluate any of the GE crops that are currently on the market and there are challenges to its use".NAS, Safety of Genetically Engineered Foods: Approaches to Assessing Unintended Health Effects (2004) Then the NAS presents a flow chart with its recommendations for a system of evaluating the safety of GM foods - a system that has not been implemented. 
As for Ronald's claim that the NAS concludes that "the crops currently on the market are safe to eat",Pamela Ronald, Tomorrow's Table, OUP, 2008, p. 69 this is what the NAS actually says:
:All evidence evaluated to date indicates that unexpected and unintended compositional changes arise with all forms of genetic modification, including genetic engineering. Whether such compositional changes result in unintended health effects is dependent upon the nature of the substances altered and the biological consequences of the compounds. To date, no adverse health effects attributed to genetic engineering have been documented in the human population.Pamela Ronald, Tomorrow's Table, OUP, 2008, p. 69
The NAS goes on to recommend:
:that compositional changes that result from all genetic modification in food, including genetic engineering, undergo an appropriate safety assessment.Pamela Ronald, Tomorrow's Table, OUP, 2008, p. 69
Such assessments of GM foods are not required under US FDA policy, nor are they routinely and transparently done by any regulator worldwide.
Further, and again in contradiction to Ronald's claim, in October 2012, a National Academy of Sciences spokeswoman was quoted in a press article as saying "the group has not evaluated whether it's safe to eat genetically engineered food."Laurel Rosenhall, Safety of genetically modified foods is debated in California, The Sacramento Bee, Oct 31 2012, acc 31 Oct 2012
Also, Ronald does not mention that the the UK GM Science Review was accused by a number of scientists, including Dr Les Levidow, of bias and misrepresentation of scientific findings (see Royal Society, "Peer review"). Former environment minister Michael Meacher commented on the Science Review: "This is just a rehash of existing reports and includes no data of systematic trials to test GM food safety. This is Iraq Mark 2: there is no supporting evidence for action, the public don't like it and the Government seems determined to over-rule all opposition." Carlo Leifert, a world expert in organic food production, stepped down from the science review panel amid allegations that he was facing fierce pressure to toe a pro-biotech line. According to an Observer report, Leifert
:felt increasingly isolated after raising repeated concerns about the safety and environmental impacts of GM crops and began worrying he might lose grants if he kept questioning the technology. However, there is no evidence to suggest any panel member threatened him over this.Robin McKie and Mark Townsend, Dissenting adviser quits GM panel, Observer, 20 Jul 03, acc 4 Jun 2010 
According to the Observer report, the final straw for Leifert came when
:he was told that Andrew Cockburn of Monsanto had been commissioned to write the first draft of its consideration of GM safety issues.Robin McKie and Mark Townsend, Dissenting adviser quits GM panel, Observer, 20 Jul 03, acc 4 Jun 2010
Following this revelation, MP Joan Ruddock asked the then Environment Minister Elliot Morley if he was concerned that the food safety section had been written by a Monsanto employee: "Morley did not reply."Robin McKie and Mark Townsend, Dissenting adviser quits GM panel, Observer, 20 Jul 03, acc 4 Jun 2010
===On the safety of glyphosate===
In Tomorrow's Table, "Anne" accepts Ronald's reassurances on GM food safety without challenge. But Anne is still concerned about "the idea that many of the GE crops grown in the United States are sprayed with herbicides",Pamela Ronald, Tomorrow's Table, OUP, 2008, p. 69 which Ronald defines as glyphosate (brand name: Roundup), the herbicide that most GM crops are designed to tolerate.
Ronald is upbeat about glyphosate, telling Anne that farmers like glyphosate-tolerant GM crops because they don't have to hoe or weed. She completely ignores the many scientific studies and media reports that say that the widespread use of glyphosate on RR soy has led to an explosion of glyphosate-resistant weeds in North and South America, forcing farmers to return to old-fashioned ploughing, spraying ever more toxic mixtures of herbicides like 2,4-D, and even hand weeding.Vila-Aiub, Martin M. et al., Glyphosate-resistant weeds of South American cropping systems: an overview. Pest Management Science, Vol. 64, Issue 4, 2007, 366-371.Branford S., Argentina's bitter harvest. New Scientist, 17 April 2004Benbrook C.M., Rust, resistance, run down soils, and rising costs — Problems facing soybean producers in Argentina. AgBioTech InfoNet, Technical Paper No 8, Jan 2005Nandula V.K et al., Glyphosate-Resistant Weeds: Current Status and Future Outlook. Outlooks on Pest Management, August 2005: 183-187Syngenta module helps manage glyphosate-resistant weeds. Delta Farm Press, 30 May 2008Robinson R., Resistant ryegrass populations rise in Mississippi. Delta Farm Press, Oct 30, 2008Johnson B and Vince Davis V., Glyphosate Resistant Horseweed (Marestail) Found in 9 More Indiana Counties. Pest & Crop, 13 May 2005.Neuman, William, and Andrew Pollack, [http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/04/business/energy-environment/04weed.html?pagewanted=1&hp U.S. Farmers Cope With Roundup-Resistant Weeds, New York Times, 3 May 2010
Then Ronald makes an astounding claim. She tells Anne, "The good thing about glyphosate is that it is known to be nontoxic to mammals and does not accumulate in water or soil, and is therefore preferable to other widely used herbicides, which persist in the environment."Pamela Ronald, Tomorrow's Table, OUP, 2008, p. 69
In making this statement, Ronald has ignored a large number of scientific findings, which include the following:
*The so-called inert ingredients in Roundup kill human cells, particularly embryonic, placental and umbilical cord cells. Cell damage and death was found even at the residual levels to be expected in food and feed derived from Roundup-treated crops.Benachour, N. and Gilles-Eric Séralini. Glyphosate Formulations Induce Apoptosis and Necrosis in Human Umbilical, Embryonic, and Placental Cells. Chem. Res. Toxicol., 2009, 22 (1), pp 97–105. 
*Roundup was found to prevent the action of androgens, the masculinizing hormones, at very low levels up to 800 times less than Roundup residues authorized in some GMOs for animal feed in the United States. The action and formation of estrogens were disrupted. DNA damage was also found in human cells around this level.Gasnier, C. et al. Glyphosate-based herbicides are toxic and endocrine disruptors in human cell lines. Toxicology, Volume 262, Issue 3, 21 August 2009, pp. 184-191
*Glyphosate is toxic to human placental cells in concentrations lower than those found with agricultural use and this effect increases in the presence of so-called inert Roundup ingredients.Richard, S., et al. Differential Effects of Glyphosate and Roundup on Human Placental Cells and Aromatase. Environmental Health Perspectives, 2005, Vol. 113, No. 6 
*In a study of farming families in Ontario, Canada, high levels of premature births and miscarriages were observed in female members of families that used pesticides, including glyphosate and 2,4-D (one of the herbicides to which farmers are resorting to manage glyphosate-resistant weeds).Savitz, D.A. et al. 1997. Male pesticide exposure and pregnancy outcome. Am. J. Epidemiol. 146:1025-1036
*Tests on human embryonic and placental cells show that Roundup exposure may affect human reproduction and fetal development. Chemical mixtures in formulations appear to be underestimated regarding their toxic or hormonal impact.Benachour, N. et al. Time- and dose-dependent effects of roundup on human embryonic and placental cells. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 01/08/2007; 53(1):126-33. 
*Glyphosate inhibits an important process called RNA transcription in animals, at a concentration well below the level recommended for commercial spray application.Marc, J. et al. A glyphosate-based pesticide impinges on transcription. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, 2005, vol. 203, no. 1, pp. 1-8
*Roundup residues interfere with multiple metabolic pathways at low concentrations.Malatesta, M. Roundup residues interfere with multiple metabolic pathways. Toxicol. In Vitro. 2008 Sep 18. 
*Glyphosate and 2,4-D affected the levels and functioning of enzymes of the liver and intestines of rats.Hietanen, E. et al. Effects of phenoxy herbicides and glyphosate on the hepatic and intestinal biotransformation activities in the rat. 1983. Acta Pharma et Toxicol 53:103-112. 
*Rats orally treated with glyphosate produced foetuses with skeletal abnormalities.Dallegrave, E., et al. 1993. The teratogenic potential of the herbicideglyphosate-Roundup in Wistar rats. Toxicol. Lett. 142: 45-52
*Glyphosate application to RR soy has been linked to higher incidence of fusarium, a fungus that causes wilt disease in soy plants and that is harmful to humans and livestockMU researchers find fungi buildup in glyphosate-treated soybean fields. University of Missouri, 21 December 2000 
*Glyphosate application causes problems in soybean root development and nitrogen fixation and reduces yield in drought conditions.King, C., et al. (2001). Plant growth and nitrogenase activity of glyphosate-tolerant soybeans in response to foliar application. Agronomy Journal, Vol. 93: 179-186
*Extended use of glyphosate can significantly increase the severity of various plant diseases, impair plant defense to pathogens and diseases, and immobilize soil and plant nutrients rendering them unavailable for plant use. Reduced growth, impaired defenses, impaired uptake and translocation of nutrients, and altered physiology of plants by glyphosate can affect susceptibility or tolerance to various diseases. Glyphosate makes soil nutrients unavailable for plant uptake.Johal, G.S., and D.M. Huber, Glyphosate effects on diseases of plants. Europ. J. Agronomy 31 (2009) 144–152.
*Glyphosate’s toxicity to beneficial soil organisms reduces the availability of nutrients that are critical for a plant’s physiological defense to disease.Purcell, L.C., 2001. Physiological determinants of soybean yield limitations. USDACRIS Accession No.: 0164131; projectNo.:ARK01559,Univ.Arkansas, Fayetteville. Cited in Johal, G.S., and D.M. Huber, Glyphosate effects on diseases of plants. Europ. J. Agronomy 31 (2009) 144–152.
*Glyphosate stimulates the growth of fungi and enhances the virulence of pathogens such as Fusarium, which “can have serious consequences for sustainable production of a wide range of susceptible crops" and lead to “the functional loss of genetic resistance”.Larson, R.L., Hill,A.L., Fenwick,A., Kniss,A.R., Hanson, L.E., Miller, S.D., 2006. Influence of glyphosate on Rhizoctonia and Fusarium root rot in sugar beet. Pest Manag. Sci. 62, 182–192. Cited in Johal,G.S., and D.M. Huber, Glyphosate effects on diseases of plants. Europ. J. Agronomy 31 (2009) 144–152
*Glyphosate applications (ranging from 18 to 36 months prior to planting) were the most important agronomic factor in development of diseases, primarily Fusarium head blight, in wheat and barley crops.Fernandez, M.R., Zentner, R.P., Basnyat, P., Gehl, D., Selles, F., Huber, D., 2009. Glyphosate associations with cereal diseases caused by Fusarium spp. In the Canadian Prairies. Eur. J. Agron. 31, 133–143.
*Glyphosate is extremely lethal to amphibians. A study based in a natural setting found its application caused a 70 percent decline in amphibian biodiversity and an 86 percent decline in the total mass of tadpoles. Two species of tadpoles were nearly eliminated. The study also found that, contrary to common belief, the presence of soil does not mitigate the chemical’s effects,Relyea, R.A. (2005) The Impact of Insecticides and Herbicides on the Biodiversity and Productivity of Aquatic Communities. Ecol. Appl. vol. 15, no. 21, April 2005
*Glyphosate can stimulate growth and development in a type of aquatic snail that is an intermediate host of sheep liver fluke. The study concluded that low levels of glyphosate could promote increased liver fluke infections in mammals.Tate, T.M., Spurlock, J.O. and Christian, F.A., 1997. Effect of Glyphosate on the Development of Pseudosuccinea columella snails. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 33, 286-289
*A three-year study of clearcuts in the US, planted with spruce seedlings and sprayed with glyphosate at a rate of 1.7 kg a.i./ha found that total bird densities decreased by 36 percent.Santillo, D.J., Brown, P.W. and Leslie, D.M. 1989. Response of songbirds to glyphosate-induced habitat changes on clearcuts. J. Wildlife Management 53 (1), 64-71
*Several studies have shown that glyphosate is toxic to earthworms.World Health Organisation (WHO), 1994. Glyphosate. Environmental Health Criteria 159. The International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS). WHO, Geneva
Ronald seems ignorant too of the court case in France that forced Monsanto to withdraw advertising claims that Roundup was biodegradable and leaves the soil clean after use. The court found that these claims were false and misleading, and fined Monsanto's French distributor 15,000 euros.Monsanto Fined in France for 'False' Herbicide Ads, Agence France Presse, 26 Jan 2007, acc 3 June 2010
==Affiliations==
*Raoul Adamchak - Pamela Ronald's husband and the co-author of her book, Tomorrow's Table. Adamchak manages the student-run organic farm on the campus of the University of California, Davis.Now Available: Tomorrow's Table: Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of Food, Ronald Laboratory website, acc 2 Jun 2010 
*Monsanto: The University of California, Davis College of Biological Sciences runs a Monsanto Fellowship Program. It says, "These fellowships are made possible through an endowed student fellowship fund created by a gift from the Monsanto Corporation."Monsanto Fellowship Program, UC Davis College of Biological Sciences website, acc 23 May 2010 UC Davis names Monsanto in a list of companies, "most" of which have "donated at least $20,000 per year for a fellowship".Biotechnology education and training at UC Davis, UC Davis, 11 Dec 2006, acc 2 Jun 2010 
*Monsanto also funds UC Davis's Designated Emphasis in Biotechnology (DEB) graduate internship program, which UC Davis describes as "An inter-graduate program that credits PhD students for training in Biotechnology".Biotechnology education and training at UC Davis, UC Davis, 11 Dec 2006, acc 2 Jun 2010
*According to an article in The Sacramento News and Review, "UC Davis faculty currently receive nearly $10 million in research contracts from the private sector - more than a few of them, according to UCD officials, with Monsanto." The deal prompted the reporter to ask, "The future of a major research deal between UC Davis and the Monsanto corporation brings the role of the university into bold relief. How far can a university go in collaborating with private industry before its mission of contributing to basic knowledge becomes distorted? How will we know when it's gone too far?" The article noted the dangers of reliance on funding from a single source of funds: "Last April when Davis City Councilwoman Julie Partansky dared suggest reduction of municipal use of Monsanto's herbicide Roundup, she was met with a public rebuke from a Monsanto senior researcher: 'As Monsanto searches for a permanent site for its West Coast operations... how would it look for a company to build a base of operations in a city that has banned, or even thought about banning its major product?'"UC Davis, Monsanto, and the Future of Biotech, The Sacramento News and Review, undated, acc 2 Jun 2010
*According to an article by Tom Knudson in the Sacramento Bee, "When UC Davis filed for a patent on the cloned disease-resistant African rice gene in 1995, it saw an opportunity for financial reward and public service. Money was expected to flow to the school from corporate coffers for research and other purposes. Ronald, for example, has received about $825,000 from Monsanto and Pioneer Hi-Bred International for work on the rice gene in her laboratory."Tom Knudson, Seeds of doubt, Sacramento Bee, Jun 6 2004, acc 26 July 2013
*Ronald is "the chief JBEI [the federal Energy Department's Joint BioEnergy Institute] researcher at UC Davis", according to an article on Monsanto's website.Monsanto.co.uk, 2007. UC Davis Is Partner in New $125 Million Federal Bioenergy Research Center. Acc 9 Jne 2011 The Joint BioEnergy Institute is a biofuels programme. It is "a six-institution partnership led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory".US Dept of Energy. 2011. DOE Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI), acc 9 June 2011
==Notes==
Ronald, Pamela
Ronald, Pamela