Hi Desmond that may be a question only the protestors themselves can answer!

Indeed I suspect that in any crowd people protest for different, often personal, reasons.

There could be several reasons though:

a) They are (wrongly perhaps) associating biotech with the big pharmaceutical companies - in the states especially there has been a lot of negative press/feeling about how much money some  Pharma companies charge hospitals for drugs (anti-HIV, cancer etc).

b) They are associating biotech companies with the development of genetically modified crops and animals ( i.e Monsanto).

c) They are associating Biotech with the use of animal research. Some Biotech companies probably do use animals in product development but I bet far more are actually trying to develop products that specifically try to replace the use of animals - not just due to expense of using animals or morality but because of the problems that can be caused by using animal products in humans. These problems range from  using FBS (foetal bovine serum) to grow human cells for regenerative medicine or the danger of cross-species transmission of animal viruses from xenografts.

d) They dislike any large companies seeing them as capitalist tools to exploit workers for gain so they lump Biotech in with banks, big industry etc.

A lot of people also believe that human activity (especially automotive and industrial) are destroying the environment and perhaps wish to return to more bucolic times. To do this however with our current technology we would probably have to remove 95% of the human race.

I do find it a bit ironic that those protesting the large companies are not also protesting outside hospitals and schools which, after all, are also large institutions!

Anyway sorry I can't be more help - you might want to search around the net to see if you can find any blogs from some of these people to see if they have some sort of manifesto that mentions Biotech.

Gary

United States

PROTESTS AGAINST BIOTECH TURNING VIOLENT

16-Oct-2003  (The Strait Times)

SAN FRANCISCO - A growing militant movement opposed to genetic engineering in agriculture and medicine is turning to violent and criminal sabotage - from the bombing of a biotech company to the destruction of genetically modified, or GM, crops. 

As a result, targeted companies are not just taking extra security precautions but also often altering business strategies. The violence, which the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) says suddenly became more serious this year, stems in part from frustration that peaceful protests have failed to slow biotechnology's progress. 

'We've seen a drastic escalation in the use of violent tactics in the past year,' said Mr Phil Celestini, head of the FBI's domestic terrorism unit in Washington. 

Militant environmental, economic and animal-rights activist groups have used the Internet to organise action against biotechnology, first in Europe and now in the United States. 

Many fear the technology will forever harm nature, while others object to how animals are treated in drug experiments. 

Californian Daniel Andreas San Diego, 25, is wanted by the FBI in connection with some of the most recent attacks: the bombings in August of biotech company Chiron and another on a cosmetics manufacturer.

But aside from a few shattered windows, little damage was done to either company. The group that claimed responsibility for the blasts, the previously unheard of Revolutionary Cells, vowed there would be more bombings. 

The authorities consider the bombings to mark a new chapter in anti-biotech militancy this year that included the vandalism of a Chiron executive's car and the trashing of a biology laboratory at the Louisiana State University last month. 

In France, an estimated half of the 100 plots of experimental biotech crops were destroyed this year, prompting some 1,500 scientists, including two Nobel laureates, to demand an end to the vandalism. 

GM crop experimentation in Britain is also in danger due to sabotage and political opposition.

'Peaceful protests aren't ending the suffering,' said Ms Danielle Matthews, a spokesman for Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, an animal-rights group. 

The group has waged a four-year harassment campaign to shut down the New Jersey laboratory of Huntingdon Life Sciences, a company that tests drugs and chemicals on animals for companies, including biotech firms. 

Opposition to biotechnology research, first in agriculture and later in medicine, has grown, especially in Europe. 

The unrest is also extending to the developing world, where biotechnology is heralded by proponents as a panacea for famine and pestilence, but where anti-globalisation activists fear corporate control of their livelihoods. 

Earlier this month, police in Bangalore, India, arrested 29 people on riot charges after protesters injured two workers and destroyed a greenhouse at a research facility belonging to a company called Monsanto, which sells GM seeds. -- AP 

Reference

SEAMEO SEARCA Biotechnology Information Centre

http://www.bic.searca.org

[email protected]

hello Desmond

these protesters will be in a best position to answer this question but in an attempt to answer, i would like you to know what these protesters want.

These protestors are people who are opposed to capitalism and globalization. The philosophy of the movement is based on the belief that individuals and organizations can achieve social, personal and economic goals without the negative consequences associated with capitalism. The anti-globalization movement places more emphasis on economic efficiency and human decency versus corporate competition and profits at any cost.

( http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/anti-globalization.html#ixzz459qP9Cuv )

Therefore, this gives a clear view as to why they have targeted biotech companies because they feel there are negative consequences associated with biotech products.

thank you