San Diego

A Mexican ecologist renowned for his criticism of transgenic crops is suing the University of California, Berkeley, which denied him tenure in 2003.

Ignacio Chapela was prominent among staff at Berkeley who opposed a five-year, $25-million deal that in 1998 gave the Swiss firm Novartis privileged access to findings by the university's plant scientists. The lawsuit claims that he was denied tenure in retaliation for this stance. Chapela also claims to be the victim of racial discrimination. “My case shows the tenure review process is totally overwhelmed by the forces of politics and the realities of economic dependency,” he says.

Chapela rose to international attention with a 2001 paper reporting that transgenes had flowed into native varieties of maize in southern Mexico and fragmented throughout their genomes (D. Quist and I. H. Chapela Nature 414, 541–543; 2001 ). After the paper was criticized by plant biotechnologists and subjected to additional review, Nature issued a statement saying that it would not have been published had certain technical flaws been uncovered. But Chapela stands by the findings.

As these events were unfolding, Berkeley was considering Chapela's request for tenure in the College of Natural Resources. Although Chapela's department and the college voted in his favour, the university's chancellor at the time, Robert Berdahl, denied him tenure, saying his research record was insufficient. Since then, Chapela's case has become a focus for protesters concerned about threats to academic freedom from industrial forces.

Last year, a compromise was worked out in which university administrators agreed to convene a committee to reassess Chapela's tenure. This committee will make a recommendation to Berkeley's new chancellor, Robert Birgeneau, who was inaugurated on 15 April. He will rule on whether Chapela should receive tenure by 30 June — the end of the academic year.

Chapela says he is not optimistic about the review: “I see the academic process as unable to deal with the questions raised here.” For now, he remains a salaried employee with an office and lab, but no funds for research.

The university declines to comment on the legal action.