Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

permaculture - [permaculture] Scientist criticises GM patents

permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: permaculture

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Russ Grayson <pacedge@magna.com.au>
  • To: PERmaculture@lists.ibiblio.org (Intl permaculture list)
  • Cc:
  • Subject: [permaculture] Scientist criticises GM patents
  • Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2003 22:09:39 +1000

SCIENTIST OPPOSES SEED PATENTING AS INDIA PLANS OPEN-SOURCE POTATO
A key developer of transgenetic crops has hit out at patent laws that protect genetically modified (GM) seeds and the technologies used to produce them.

Speaking at the 19th International Congress on Genetics in Melbourne this week, Dr Richard Jefferson said that patents stifle the potential for transgenetic crops to fight starvation in developing countries.

Government should radically rethink patent laws, he said, to provide access by the poor to scientific developments. Democratisation of the science would provide access based on the ability to innovate rather than the ability to pay. It would restore the balance between private rights and the public good, he said.

INDIA’S OPEN SOURCE SPUD
Dr Jefferson’s call comes as scientists at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University continue testing of the world’s first GM potato to be released patent-free. In effect, this makes it an ‘open source’ product in much the same way that the Linux computer operating system is distributed. Scientists hope that this will make it available to poorer farmers.

Called the ‘protato’ because it contains 30% more protein as well as more amino acids than conventional potatoes, the protato could be released by the end of the year.

A MIDDLE GROUND
Dr Jefferson’s comments about patenting signal a break with corporate proponents of GM crops but does little to mollify the opponents of genetic modification. Organisations such as Australia’s Genethics Network, the Seed Savers’ Network, Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace say that, rather than producing greater quantities of food, land reform and poverty reduction are the key to lowering the incidence of malnutrition and starvation. The issue is about distribution and access rather than higher crop productivity, they say.

Occupying a shifting middle ground between these extremes of opinion is Australian biological scientist, Dr David Murray. A sometime speaker at the annual conferences of the Seed Savers Network, Dr Murray says that proposed GM releases should be evaluated on their merits and not given an automatic go-ahead or be automatically opposed.

Dr Murray believes that GM crops may have a place in some circumstances and the technology should not be written off.

NEW CHALLENGES
US-based food producers were angry when the European Union introduced labelling of food products containing GM ingredients just a few weeks ago and have been critical of Australian legislation stipulating such labelling.

The decision by those governments was the result of concerns raised by a large and influential lobby that reflects continuing pubic uncertainty about GM foods. That lobby may soon find additional work for itself with scientists now planning the release of GM foods with pharmaceutical properties.
…………………………………………..

Dr David Murray is author of ‘Seeds of Concern’, UNSW Press, Australia, 2003.
..........................................................................................................
Russ Grayson
Media services: journalism-print/ online/ photo
pacedge@magna.com.au Phone/ fax: 02 9588 6931
PO Box 446 Kogarah NSW 2217 Australia
..........................................................................................................


  • [permaculture] Scientist criticises GM patents, Russ Grayson, 07/12/2003

Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page