Biotech Awareness

Biotechnology is the manipulation of living organisms or their components to develop new technologies or products

Biotechnology can cause harm through the unintended consequences of benevolent research or from the purposeful manipulation of biology.


In the biotech industry, the palate for risk is often superbly high.


We are sharing news articles and personal stories, along with information on risks, key players, accidents and regulations, to raise awareness and expose the risks.


Be sure to check out the statistics below to get an idea of the enormous scope of this problem.

Biotech Awareness -- Exposing the Dangers

David Bell's Injury at AgraQuest

The initial reason for the creation of this website was to bring attention to the story of David Bell who was injured while working in a lab at AgraQuest.


David Bell was an Assistant Researcher/Microbiologist at AgraQuest, Inc. in Davis, California. He became ill after exposure to dangerous microorganisms at his workplace. His symptoms included nausea, severe headaches, bloody pus draining from his nose, and the left side of his face and teeth were numb. He sought emergency medical care, and they scheduled his first major sinus surgery.

David’s health has never been the same since he got sick from working at AgraQuest. He has endured four major sinus surgeries, he stopped producing B-cells for an intact immune system and was hooked up to an IV infusion pump at the hospital every 28 days for 3 years receiving IMMUNOGLOBULIN infusions. He has been on countless antibiotics and antifungals due to ongoing sinus infections, and the exposure at AgraQuest has also affected his lungs, heart, liver, spleen and gastrointestinal tract.


AgraQuest and their CEO Pam Marrone refused to accept responsibility for David's injuries.


David's mother, Sandi Trend, spent thousands of hours, over several years, conducting research, trying to get treatment for David and trying to hold AgraQuest and Pam Marrone accountable. She took on a lead role in many press conferences, presentations, media interviews and workers' rights events.


Sandi also contacted numerous government agencies and elected officials. Every one of them "turned a blind eye" and refused to help.


David and Sandi's quest for justice led them through a bizarre and shocking maze of secrecy, corruption, collusion, conflicts of interest and criminal conspiracy.


To learn more, read David Bell's story and news articles, watch the videos, read the special edition of GeneWatch dedicated to telling David's story, and several articles published by The People's Vanguard


David and Sandi are still looking for justice, and they still want AgraQuest and Pam Marrone to be held accountable.


Please help spread the word.

The Controversies About Covid-19, Biotech Safety & U.S. China Rivalry

with Journalist Sam Husseini

Journalist Sam Husseini with The Institute of Public Accuracy discusses the growing controversies about where Covid-19 came from, what it is and the issue of bio-tech safety and biological warfare.


He also talks about the attacks on lawyer Frances Boyle, the author of the biological warfare laws.


This interview was done on April, 26, 2020, by WorkWeek host Steve Zeltzer.


The Future of Our Food

An in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled U.S. grocery store shelves for the past decade

From the prairies of Saskatchewan, Canada to the fields of Oaxaca, Mexico, this film gives a voice to farmers whose lives and livelihoods have been negatively impacted by this new technology. The health implications, government policies and push towards globalization are all part of the reason why many people are alarmed by the introduction of genetically altered crops into our food supply.


The "Future of Food" examines the complex web of market and political forces that are changing what we eat as huge multinational corporations seek to control the world’s food system. The film also explores alternatives to large-scale industrial agriculture, placing organic and sustainable agriculture as real solutions to the farm crisis.


Sandi Trend wrote a detailed Op-Ed article about her son's injury at AgraQuest, Pam Marrone's involvement, and the global effects of GMOs (genetically modified organisms). She encourages everyone to watch this eye-opening film to learn the truth about what is happening to our food supply because these biotech companies are altering our food supply through bio-engineering with dangerous microorganisms.


Statistics about Lab Safety

  • 25-38% of lab personnel surveyed have been involved in an accident or injury in the lab that was not reported to the supervisor or principal investigator.


  • 27% of researchers stated that they never conducted any kind of risk assessment before performing laboratory work. Academic researchers were the least likely to assess risk, followed by industry and government.


  • In one study of lab safety between 1966 and 1984, 81% of accidents occurred in teaching labs, 13% in research labs and 2% in fabrication rooms.


  • Only 40% of researchers surveyed reported wearing PPE (personal protective equipment) at all times when working.


  • 25% of researchers had not been trained in the specific hazard with which they worked.


  • Articles in chemistry journals seldom mention safety information on chemical reagents. One study looked at journal mentions of 11 hazardous compounds. These compounds were mentioned 107 times in journal articles but only one article provided cautionary information.


  • In one profile of safety incidents at research labs, virtually identical incidents occurred at the same institutions within 10–15 years, resulting in the destruction or temporary closure of the buildings.


Sources:


Connor, M. Laboratory Safety Institute. Lab Safety: Terrifying Statistics. November 25, 2019.


Ménard, A.D., Trant, J.F. A review and critique of academic lab safety research. Nat. Chem. 12, 17–25 (2020). Research paper published in Nature Chemistry.

Biotech Laboratory Risk is Ingrained in the Culture

“Overall, there’s a lack of safety culture that has been normalized,” the article concludes. Way back in 1840, German organic chemist August Kekulé was welcomed to his graduate lab with the words:


“If you want to become a chemist, you have to ruin your health. Who does not ruin his health by his studies, nowadays will not get anywhere in chemistry.”


Sadly, a similar dismissive, even antagonistic attitude toward safety persists in many academic laboratories today.

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