PHARMACEUTICALS companies in Switzerland are celebrating after voters
rejected a proposal that would have banned the firms from carrying out much of
their research in the country. In a referendum last Sunday, more than 66 per
cent of people voted against outlawing genetic alteration of animals and the
release of genetically modified organisms into the environment.
Much of the industry would have had to move elsewhere and thousands of Swiss
people would have lost their jobs had the vote gone the other way, the firms
claimed. But although the companies spent large amounts of money on campaigning
against the proposal, they argue that holding the referendum actually improved
prospects for genetics in Switzerland.
鈥淩esearchers started to talk to the people in the streets and did a
tremendous job in correcting some misunderstandings,鈥� agrees Heidi Diggelmann, a
microbiologist at Lausanne University and president of the Swiss National
Science Foundation. She points out that because a lot of younger scientists took
part in the 鈥渘o鈥� campaign, the popular image of researchers as 鈥渨hite-bearded
professors鈥� has been corrected.
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The vote illustrates a distinct French-German divide
(Forum, 6 June, p 61).
In the French-speaking part of Switzerland, up to 81 per cent of people rejected
the proposal, as opposed to 63 per cent in the German-speaking part. But in
German-speaking Basel, where two of Switzerland鈥檚 pharmaceuticals giants,
Novartis and Hoffmann-La Roche, are based, around 69 per cent said 鈥渘o鈥�.
The activists who initiated the vote say they plan to campaign for a second
referendum that focuses on more specific questions, such using genetically
engineered ingredients in food.