For centuries, TK has been used almost exclusively by its creators, that is, indigenous and local communities. Access to, use of and handing down of TK has been regulated by local laws, customs and tmditions. Some TK has been freely accessible by all members of an indigenous or local community and has been freely exchanged with other communities; other TK has only been known to particular individuals within these communities such as shamans, and has been handed down only to particular individuals of thc next generation. Over many generations, indigenous and local communities have accumulated...

The Berne Symposium invited leading scientists of risk assessment research with transgenic crops on an international level in order to enhance the discussion regulators and members of the biotech industry. The goal was to determine the status quo and also to make progress in times of a first global spread of transgenes in agrosystems about risk assessment. The dialogue between scientists, regulators and industry representatives also revealed some lacunes of risk assessment research, which will have to be filled in the future: We still lack longterm experience, for which we will have to...

The present work is a continuation of the work initiated in Autumn 1991, which resulted in the book, published by Birkhauser Verlag in 1994, entitled: Methods for Risk Assessment of Transgenic Plants. I. Competition, Establishment and Ecosystem Effects. Already when the work on volume 1 started, it was obvious to the authors, that not only the physical establishment of a transgenic plant outside the cultivated area was important for risk assessment, but also the possible gene-transfer from transgenic plants to other plants had to be considered. It was then decided to write a second volume on...