Biological Warfare

Venter Institute Builds Longest Sequence of Synthetic DNA (that Doesn’t Work)

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ETC Group
News Release
24 January 2008
www.etcgroup.org

Venter Institute Builds Longest Sequence of Synthetic DNA (that Doesn’t Work)
 “It’s not how long – but how wise” cautions ETC Group

ETC Group today renewed its call for a moratorium on the release and commercialization of synthetic organisms, asserting that societal debate on the oversight of synthetic biology is urgently overdue. The renewed call came as J. Craig Venter’s research team announced that it has constructed a bacterial-length synthetic genome in the lab using mail-order synthetic DNA sequences. They’ve named the synthetic genome, Mycoplasma genitalium JCVI-1.0, and it’s similar to its counterpart in nature, a genital bacterium with the smallest known genome of any free living organism. The announcement is not...   Read More









Categories: BANG/Convergence, Biodiversity & Genetic Resources, Biological Warfare, Biotechnology, Corporate Concentration, Synthetic Biology

Suicide-Seed Sequel: EU’s “Transcontainer” Turns Terminator into Zombie

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* also available in french*

ETC Group today releases “Terminator: The Sequel,” a Communiqué reporting on new research related to “suicide seeds” and other genetically modified (GM) seed technologies that pose unacceptable threats to farmers, biodiversity and food sovereignty.

Today ETC Group reports on a new crop of genetic engineering technologies that are being promoted as a biosafety solution to the unwanted spread of transgenes from GM crops, trees and pharmaceutical-producing plants. In practice, these technologies, if commercialized, will allow the multinational seed industry to tighten its grasp on proprietary seeds and to restrict the rights of farmers.Read More





Categories: Biodiversity & Genetic Resources, Biological Warfare, Biotechnology, FAO, Human Rights / Farmers' Rights, Intellectual Property & Patents, Public / Private Relations, Terminator & Traitor

Terminator: The Sequel

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* also available in french*

Despite the fact that governments re-affirmed and strengthened the United Nations’ moratorium on Terminator technology (a.k.a. genetic use restriction technology [GURTs]) in March 2006, public and private sector researchers are developing a new generation of suicide seeds – using chemically induced “switches” to turn a genetically modified (GM) plant’s fertility on or off.

Issue: Under the guise of biosafety, the European Union’s 3-year Transcontainer Project is investing millions of euros in strategies that cannot promise fail-safe containment of transgenes from GM crops, but could nonetheless function as Terminator, posing unacceptable threats to farmers, biodiversity and food sovereignty. Terminator technology – genetic seed...   Read More





Categories: Biodiversity & Genetic Resources, Biological Warfare, Biotechnology, Corporate Concentration, Human Rights / Farmers' Rights, Intellectual Property & Patents, Public / Private Relations, Terminator & Traitor

Patenting Pandora’s Bug: Goodbye, Dolly...Hello, Synthia! J. Craig Venter Institute Seeks Monopoly Patents on the World’s First-Ever Human-Made Life Form

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Patenting Pandora's Bug

Goodbye, Dolly...Hello, Synthia!
J. Craig Venter Institute Seeks Monopoly Patents on the World's First-Ever Human-Made Life Form

ETC Group Will Challenge Patents on "Synthia" - Original Syn Organism Created in Laboratory

Ten years after Dolly the cloned sheep made her stunning debut, the J. Craig Venter Institute is applying for a patent on a new biological bombshell - the world's first-ever human-made species. The novel bacterium is made entirely with synthetic DNA in the laboratory.

The Venter Institute - named for its founder and CEO, J....   Read More

Categories: BANG/Convergence, Biodiversity & Genetic Resources, Biological Warfare, Biotechnology, Geoengineering, Intellectual Property & Patents, Nanotechnology, Other New Technologies, Synthetic Biology

Gambling with Gaia

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ETC Communiqué
Issue # 93
January 2007                                             

Gambling with Gaia

With hopes for Kyoto dimming, some governments may conclude that
massive earth restructuring is the only feasible way out

Issue: Kyoto is fading and carbon trading is a farce. Recognizing this, OECD states can either “bite the bullet” and adopt socially-responsible policies to dramatically cut fossil fuel use and useless consumption or, they can hope for a...   Read More









Categories: BANG/Convergence, Biodiversity & Genetic Resources, Biological Warfare, Biotechnology, Corporate Concentration, Geoengineering, Human Genomics, Human Rights / Farmers' Rights, Intellectual Property & Patents, Nanotechnology, "New Enclosures", Other New Technologies, Public / Private Relations, Synthetic Biology

Extreme Genetic Engineering: An Introduction to Synthetic Biology

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News Release
ETC Group
January 16, 2007
www.etcgroup.org

Extreme Genetic Engineering: ETC Group Releases Report on Synthetic Biology

Findings to be presented at World Social Forum in Nairobi - 20-25 January

A new report by the ETC Group concludes that the social, environmental and bio-weapons threats of synthetic biology surpass the possible dangers and abuses of biotech. The full text of the 70-page report, Extreme Genetic Engineering: An...   Read More

Categories: BANG/Convergence, Biodiversity & Genetic Resources, Biological Warfare, Biopiracy, Biotechnology, Intellectual Property & Patents, Nanotechnology, Other New Technologies, Synthetic Biology

Synthetic Biology - Global Societal Review Urgent!

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19th May 2006 NEWS RELEASE

Global Coalition Sounds the Alarm on Synthetic Biology,
Demands Oversight and Societal Debate

Today, a coalition of thirty-eight international organizations including scientists, environmentalists, trade unionists, biowarfare experts and social justice advocates called for inclusive public debate, regulation and oversight of the rapidly advancing field of synthetic biology - the construction of unique and novel artificial life forms to perform specific tasks. Synthetic biologists are meeting this weekend in Berkeley, California where they plan to announce a voluntary code of self-regulation for their work (1). The organizations signing the Open Letter are calling on synthetic biologists to abandon their proposals for self-governance and to engage in an inclusive process of global societal debate on the implications of their work (see attached Open Letter).

...   Read More


Categories: Biodiversity & Genetic Resources, Biological Warfare, Biotechnology, Corporate Concentration, Human Genomics, Human Rights / Farmers' Rights, Intellectual Property & Patents, Nanotechnology, "New Enclosures", Public / Private Relations, Synthetic Biology

Backgrounder: Open Letter on Synthetic Biology

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Background Document

Synthetic Biology - Global Societal Review Urgent!

Synthetic biology (the attempt to create artificial living organisms) should be self-regulated say scientists at Berkeley assembly. Civil Society organizations say "No!"

"If biologists are indeed on the threshold of synthesizing new life forms, the scope for abuse or inadvertent disaster could be huge." Nature, October 2004

Scientists working at the interface of engineering and biology - in the new field of "synthetic biology" - worry that public distrust of biotechnology could impede their research or draw attention to regulatory chasms. Synthetic biologists are trying to design and construct artificial living systems to perform specific tasks, such as producing pharmaceutical compounds or energy. In October 2004, the journal...   Read More

Categories: Biodiversity & Genetic Resources, Biological Warfare, Biotechnology, Corporate Concentration, Cultural Diversity, Human Genomics, Human Rights / Farmers' Rights, Intellectual Property & Patents, Nanotechnology, "New Enclosures", Synthetic Biology

News Release: New Report on Corporate Power - Oligopoly, Inc. 2005

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ETC Group
News Release
16 December 2005
www.etcgroup.org

ETC Group Releases New Report
on Corporate Power, Oligopoly, Inc. 2005

As governments at the 6th WTO Ministerial in Hong Kong bristle with the thorny politics of trade, the report that ETC Group releases today, Oligopoly, Inc. 2005, serves as a reminder that what looks like buying and selling between countries is most often the redistribution of capital among subsidiaries of the same parent multinational corporation.

ETC Group's new report is available at www.etcgroup.org

 In Oligopoly, Inc. 2005 ETC Group revisits the sectors analyzed in Oligopoly, Inc. 2003 and finds that...   Read More

Categories: Biodiversity & Genetic Resources, Biological Warfare, Biotechnology, Corporate Concentration, Cultural Diversity, Human Genomics, Human Rights / Farmers' Rights, Intellectual Property & Patents, Nanotechnology, "New Enclosures", Public / Private Relations

Oligopoly, Inc. - Concentration in Corporate Power, 2005

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In Oligopoly, Inc. 2005 ETC Group finds that corporate concentration -- not only in food and agriculture, but in all sectors related to the products and processes of life -- has increased remarkably since ETC's last review two years ago. The report also reveals that a subterranean struggle is underway at the nano-scale to control the fundamental building blocks of life and nature. Corporate investment in nanobiotechnology (or, synthetic biology) could give ultimate control to a very different set of corporate actors.

Categories: Biodiversity & Genetic Resources, Cultural Diversity, Human Rights / Farmers' Rights, Biotechnology, Biological Warfare, Human Genomics, Nanotechnology, Other new technologies, Corporate Concentration, Intellectual Property & Patents, "New Enclosures", Public / Private Relations

A Tiny Primer on Nano-scale Technologies ...and The Little BANG Theory

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ETC Group announces the release of "A Tiny Primer on Nano-scale Technologies ...and The Little BANG Theory", a 20 (small) pages pocket guide to nanotechology- a suite of techniques used to manipulate matter at the scale of atoms and molecules.

Categories: BANG/Convergence, Biodiversity & Genetic Resources, Biological Warfare, Biotechnology, Corporate Concentration, Cultural Diversity, Human Genomics, Human Rights / Farmers' Rights, Nanotechnology, "New Enclosures"

Technology Trends: Invitation to ETC Group workshops at the World Social Forum, Porto Alegre (Brazil) 26th -30th January 2005

Technology Trends: ETC Group Workshops on New Technologies, Agriculture and Corporate Power at World Social Forum, Porto Alegre (Brazil)
26th -30th January 2005

It's the worlds biggest Jamboree of grassroots social action and new ideas. Once again ETC Group (Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration) will be hosting and speaking at various events at the World Social Forum (Porto Alegre Brazil 26th-30th Jan). Our workshops aim to empower Social Movements and Civil Society to identify and resist the damage from the new waves of corporate technologies and industrial concentration breaking globally across society. We will be providing workshops addressing concerns stretching from nanotechnology, genomics and human enhancement technologies to new forms of Biopiracy (theft of cultural and genetic resources by the gene giants) as well as sharing the celebration of the ongoing defence of biodiversity and food...   Read More


Categories: Biodiversity & Genetic Resources, Biological Warfare, Biopiracy, Biotechnology, CGIAR, Corporate Concentration, Cultural Diversity, FAO, Human Genomics, Human Rights / Farmers' Rights, Nanotechnology, Terminator & Traitor

Down on the Farm: The Impact of Nano-scale Technologies on Food and Agriculture

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Nanotechnology, the manipulation of matter at the scale of atoms and molecules, is rapidly converging with biotech and information technology to radically change food and agricultural systems. Over the next two decades, the impacts of nano-scale convergence on farmers and food will exceed that of farm mechanisation or of the Green Revolution. No government has developed a regulatory regime that addresses the nano-scale or the societal impacts of the invisibly small. A handful of food and nutrition products containing invisible and unregulated nano-scale additives are already commercially available. Likewise, a number of pesticides formulated at the nano-scale are on the market and have been released in the environment. "Down on the Farm" is the first comprehensive look at how nano-scale technologies will affect farmers, food and agriculture.

Categories: Biodiversity & Genetic Resources, Biological Warfare, Biopiracy, Biotechnology, Corporate Concentration, Cultural Diversity, FAO, Human Genomics, Human Rights / Farmers' Rights, Intellectual Property & Patents, Nanotechnology, Terminator & Traitor

ETC Group releases "Down on the Farm: The Impact of Nano-Scale Technologies on Food and Agriculture"

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ETC Group
News Release
November 23, 2004
www.etcgroup.org

ETC Group releases Down on the Farm: The Impact of Nano-Scale Technologies on Food and Agriculture

The ETC Group, an international research and advocacy organisation based in Ottawa, Canada, today announces the publication of Down on the Farm, the first comprehensive look at how nano-scale technologies will affect farmers, food and agriculture. Nanotechnology refers to the manipulation of matter at the scale of atoms and molecules, where size is measured in billionths of metres and quantum physics determines how a substance behaves. According to Hope Shand, ETC Group’s Research Director, "Over the next two decades, technologies converging at the nano-scale will have a greater impact on farmers and food than farm...   Read More

Categories: Biodiversity & Genetic Resources, Biological Warfare, Biopiracy, Biotechnology, Corporate Concentration, Cultural Diversity, FAO, Human Genomics, Human Rights / Farmers' Rights, Nanotechnology, Terminator & Traitor

Rocking the Boat: J. Craig Venter's Microbial Collecting Expedition Under Fire in Latin America

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ETC Group
News Release
Thursday, 22 July 2004
www.etcgroup.org

 

Rocking the Boat:
J. Craig Venter’s Microbial Collecting Expedition
Under Fire in Latin America

Civil society organizations (CSOs) and peoples’ movements convening at the first Americas Social Forum in Quito, Ecuador, July 25-30, are protesting J. Craig Venter’s US-government funded ocean expedition to collect and sequence microbial diversity from around the globe. Exotic microbes are the raw materials for creating new energy sources and even new life forms.

"Venter’s microbe-hunting expedition raises serious unanswered questions about sovereignty over genetic resources...   Read More

Categories: Biodiversity & Genetic Resources, Biological Warfare, Biopiracy, Biotechnology, Human Genomics, Intellectual Property & Patents, Nanotechnology, Public / Private Relations