Ignacio Chapela continues to fight for tenure


The East Bay Express reports on the status of Professor Ignacio Chapela's tenure case. Chapela is a vocal critic of genetically engineered foods and biotech companies. He published a paper in Nature about genetic contamination of maize by genetically engineered corn (it was later retracted) and opposed the $25 million dollar deal between the Department of Plant Biology and Novartis (the Swiss pharmaceutical company and owners of Gerber foods) that expired last year. Chapela claims his criticism of the deal conflicted with the head of the budget committee (who had investments with Novartis) that voted against giving him tenure. The review of his case has gone on for an unusually long time and could go on longer if brought before a formal hearing of the Academic Senate.

If you wish to know more about the Novartis deal, you can read the criticism along with support for the deal in this article from California Monthly.Email This Post!