Ricarda STEINBRECHER

Dr. Ricarda Steinbrecher is a biologist and molecular geneticist who has been examining genetically modified organisms (GMOs) since 1995, with a focus on their performance and risks, and impacts on biodiversity, the environment, agriculture and health. Currently she is focussing on synthetic biology, including gene drives, GM trees and the new genome editing techniques. She is author of many scientific papers, briefings, commentaries and reports.

She is involved in many international processes, in particular those of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and its Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CPB) where she represents the Federation of German Scientists (Vereinigung Deutscher Wissenschaftler). She has served on many international expert groups, including the CBD ad hoc technical expert group (AHTEG) on Synthetic Biology (from 2015 until now), and the AHTEG on Risk Assessment of GMOs (CPB process). 

Ricarda is a founding member of the European Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Responsibility (ENSSER) and is advisor to many national and international organisations and projects. She is Co-Director of EcoNexus (https://www.econexus.info), a not-for-profit public interest research organisation based in the UK, and is part of its Gene Drive Monitor project (https://genedrivemonitor.org/). 

She is an author of the ENSSER report “Gene Drives: A report on their science, applications, social aspects, ethics and regulations” (2019), and is the co-author of the report “Genetically engineered gene drives: IUCN report on Synthetic Biology lacks balance” (2021).