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Genetics Foundation in the US, had testified before the UN and World Bank on issues of bioscience, had published widely on genetics, and was a recognized expert on GMO science. Her "mistake" was that she was too outspoken against the dangers of GMO foods. In 2003, she served on an international Independent Science Panel on GM plants, where she spoke out against the slipshod scientific claims being made about GMO safety. She warned that genetic modification was entirely unlike normal plant or animal breeding. She stated, "Contrary to what you are told by the pro-GM scientists, the process is not at all precise. It is uncontrollable and unreliable, and typically ends up damaging and scrambling the host genome, with entirely unpredictable consequences!' That was more than enough for the GMO lobby to pressure her into "retirement." 13 To protect the so-called integrity of state-funded research into the safety of GMO foods and crops, the Blair government put together a new code of conduct. Under the Government's Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council code (BBSRC), any employee of a state-funded research institute who dared to speak out on his findings into GMO plants, could face dismissal, be sued for breach of contract or face a court injunction. Many institutes doing similar research into GMO foods, such as the John Innes Centre's Sainsbury Laboratory, the UK's leading biotechnology institute, had received major financial backing from GMO biotechnology giants such as Zeneca and Lord Sainsbury personally. As Science Minister, Lord Sainsbury saw to it that the BBSRC got a major increase in government funding in order to carry out its biotech police work of suppressing scientific dissent. The board of the BBSRC was made up of representatives oflarge multinationals with a vested interest in the research results, while public interest groups such as the Country Landowners' Association were kept OUt. 14 In March 2003, a rare case of dissent took place in the Blair government lobby against allowing the free introduction of virtually untested GMO products into the UK diet. Dr. Brian John submitted a memorandum to the British journal, GM Science Review, entitled,