Dr Jim Ryan's grandfather was in the GPO in 1916 as a young medical student and later became a TD for South Wexford. His father is a former senator and his brother, Eoin, is a TD for Dublin SouthEast. "It was quite a political household," Dr Ryan says of his upbringing, "although I am not a particularly political animal myself". Politics may not interest him, but as chief executive of BioResearch Ireland, the political debate around genetically modified (GM) foods does. He is angered by the way the way the debate has been conducted, speaking of the "misrepresentation" of facts put by detractors of such foods.
"I am not saying they should agree with me but there is no process of sitting down and considering issues and coming up with a decision," he says.
He had shelved the PhD from UCD on the biological control of insect pests until the debate on GM crops arose. He is familiar with, and espouses the argument that GM crops will dramatically reduce the need for pesticides. "From my point of view, it is very clear that the GM crops have a big advantage when compared to conventional crops in regard to the fact that they dramatically reduce insecticide usage. Also, they do not harm the non-pest species."
He believes the counter-arguments have been vociferous but flawed and says science has been losing the PR battle with the public because of Mad Cow Disease. "The net effect of the whole BSE thing was that it was perceived that the scientists did not do their job and that has caused a lack of credibility among other things."
He says scientists are reticent when asked to comment on subjects they are unfamiliar with, and, in general, have found themselves at odds with debates on the airwaves.
"Scientists find it hard to react in a debate at a speed which the public demands and that has not been helpful."
He takes an optimistic view of science, GM included, pointing to the diseases which have been eradicated or controlled this century, and suggests that controlling epidemics in under-developed countries is not in the realm of the scientist. "If scientists can deliver a solution to a problem, is it their job to deliver it worldwide?" he asks. He denies that they are commercially compromised, saying that only a small proportion work for companies.
"Most work in universities or research institutes," he says.
"Companies would find it hard to retain very good scientists unless they gave them a certain amount of freedom."
He describes biotechnology as the use of biology for industrial purposes. BioResearch Ireland, a commercial biotechnology research organisation, is part of Enterprise Ireland, the State development board for indigenous companies. Established in 1988 to develop a research and development structure for biotechnology, it now has 165 staff. Its £7.5 million (€9.52 million) budget is part-funded from EU Structural Funds but is mostly derived from industry contracts.
BioResearch Ireland also supports about 90 postgraduate students in their research. The organisation has five research centres, run in partnership with the universities at which they are based. and has a role, in conjunction with IDA Ireland, in maintaining the State's profile internationally. The industry has in the past suffered from meagre investment, Dr Ryan says. "It has been very inadequate. In comparison with other EU countries, our funding is very, very low . . . we have a good infrastructure for making great use of any investment we get in research," he says. He says there are now 26 new biotechnology companies concentrating mainly in the diagnostics, therapeutics, and reagent and agri-products areas. But the industry stands at mid-stream between the pharmaceutical and chemical industries and the agricultural sector. Pharmaceutical companies have moved from developing drugs based on "chemical synthesis" to ones based on genetically engineered organisms. A biotechnology industry has become "vital", he says.
"Biotechnology is already revolutionising healthcare and it is about to revolutionise agri-business - animal health, animal breeding, animal vaccines. Obviously there is a concern among the public about the residues of different substances. I think vaccines is the way it will go in the future," he says. Forfas, the advisory board for science and technology, has recently published its Technology Foresight report and its recommendations include an investment programme to integrate R&D, train up to 400 scientists annually and provide support for 50 biotechnology start-ups over the next 15 years. "It looks like the Government will implement the recommendations to put the money into research," he says. He was brought up, he says, to believe in himself and be his own man. After going to school in Blackrock he was sent to the Cistercian College in Roscrea for three years for "non-performing". The new atmosphere was conducive to study. "It was partly boredom. You have nothing else to do in boarding school except some work."
He went on to study science in UCD, following it up with a PhD. He now lives in Glenageary with his wife, Kathryn, and they have four sons. An ideal day off for him is to go fishing with them in Dublin Bay although he has dabbled in ornithology. It is "essentially observation", he says and, as such, is not for him. "I would be someone who would prefer to make things happen rather than watch things happen," he says.
Along with fishing, he is equally happy immersing himself in the National Library, doing research on genealogy, a passionate hobby which has led him to set up a publishing company, Flyleaf Press, to publish Irish Records - Sources for Family and Local History, a comprehensive reference book in the area. The interest in genealogy varies in its make-up, he says, and he remembers having to address a conference room of equally minded elderly women in Seattle. His book is a local historian's dream for sourcing information and was prompted by the absence of a reference book in the area. Dr Ryan delights in obscure family names and tracing them back through the centuries.
"I get a great buzz. In a way, research in this is almost like research in anything else," he says.
