Response to comments by DiGiovanni and Kevan on “Session V: Estimating Likelihood and Exposure”, by Zaida Lentini, Environ. Biosafety Res. 5 (2006) 193–195

Abstract

I would like to thank the Editor for the opportunity to respond to the issues raised in the comments made by DiGiovanni and Kevan (2008, in this issue). My paper entitled “Estimating Likelihood and Exposure”, published in Environmental Biosafety Research 5 (2006) 193–195, summarized the presentations and discussions that took placed during Session V at the 9th International Symposium on Biosafety of Genetically Modified Organisms, which was held at Jeju, South Korea, September 24–29, 2006. As moderator of this session, I followed a guide by the symposium organizers that included to highlight the main conclusions drawn during the session discussion and to represent the point of view of the audience, largely composed by biosafety regulators worldwide. The assessment should also address in particular the pros and cons of each model. My paper was presented as the introduction to the 5th plenary session the last day of the meeting, giving an additional opportunity for general discussion. The issues raised in the comments made by DiGiovanni and Kevan (2008, in this issue), are aimed mainly at the empirical modeling approach to pollen-mediated gene flow presented by Gustafson and his co-authors in their recently published paper (Gustafson et al., 2006).