Everything about Ignacio Chapela totally explained
Ignacio Chapela is an
microbial ecologist and
mycologist at the
University of California, Berkeley, and an outspoken critic of the University's ties to the
biotechnology industry. He is also notable for authorship of a controversial
Nature paper about the flow of
transgenes in to wild
Mexican maize.
Chapela is also notable for his work with
natural resources and
indigenous rights.
Disputes with University Faculty
Chapela objected to his faculty's taking of money from
Novartis, taking a strong position on the issue. Chapela was denied
tenure in
2003, because of intervention by pro-industry faculty member
Jasper Rine. However, Chapela was finally awarded tenure on
May 17,
2005. Chapela also spoke out against the $500 million deal between UC Berkeley and UI Urbana-Champaign and British Petroleum to research the development of biofuels, which may involve genetically engineering microorganisms and plants. The grant went into effect on November 14th, 2007.
Chapela and indigenous rights
Chapela founded
The Mycological Facility, a facility dealing with questions of natural resources and indigenous rights, and collaborates with indigenous communities in Mexico,
Costa Rica and
Ecuador on issues rights to genetic resources.
Chapela and mycology
Chapela has worked on the
symbiosis between
leafcutter ants and their
cultivated fungi (
attine symbiosis). His research seems to indicate that some leaf-cutter ants have "domesticated" a single lineage of fungi for over 30 million years; Chapela is currently studying this symbiosis from
evolutionary and agricultural perspectives, as well as looking for ways to manipulate it.
He is also an Advisory Board member for
The Sunshine Project, an organization promoting citizens' concens with
biosafety and
biowarfare.
Notes and references
Further Information
Get more info on 'Ignacio Chapela'.
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