Nanotechnology

À qui appartient la nature?

Pouvoir des grandes sociétés et ultime frontière de la marchandisation du vivant

Problèmes, obsessions et occasions : une préface

TIl y a trente ans, l’humanité avait un problème; la science avait une obsession; et l’industrie tenait une occasion. Notre problème était l’injustice. Les rangs des affamés ne cessaient de grossir et les rangs des agriculteurs, de s’affaiblir. De son côté, la science était obsédée par la biotechnologie – la possibilité de modifier génétiquement les cultures et le bétail (et l’être humain) pour les doter de traits qui allaient régler tous nos problèmes. L’industrie agroalimentaire tenait l’occasion de prélever l’énorme valeur ajoutée tout au long de la... Read more

**Updated January 16th 2008**

ETC Group News Release 14 January 2008 www.etcgroup.org Organic Pioneer Says No to Nano ETC Group Welcomes World’s First ‘Nano-free’ Standard

Now that you can drive your ‘nano’ car, listening to your iPod ‘nano’ while wearing ‘nano’ sunscreen and ‘nano’ clothing, the UK’s largest organic certifier has just introduced the perfect nano-antidote – a ‘nano-free’ standard for consumer products. The Soil Association – one of the world’s pioneers of organic agriculture – announced today that it is has banned human-made nanomaterials from the organic cosmetics, foods and textiles that it certifies. (1)

According to the U.S.-based Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, there are over 500 manufacturer-identified consumer products on the market that contain nanomaterials. However, since manufacturers are not required to... Read more

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                 July 31, 2007 Press Contacts: George Kimbrell, ICTA (202) 547-9359, gkimbrell@icta.org; Bill Kojola, AFL-CIO, (202)-637-5003, bkojola@aflcio.org; Peter Rossman, IUF, +41 22 793 2233, peter.rossman@iuf.org; Ian Illuminato, Friends of the Earth U.S., (202)- 222-0735, IIlluminato@foe.org; Kathy Jo Wetter, ETC Group, (613) 241-2267 etc@etcgroup.org; Chee Yoke Ling, Third World Network, +6012 3768858, yokeling@myjaring.net; Rick Worthington, Loka Institute, (909)... Read more

News Release ETC Group 7 June 2007 www.etcgroup.org

 

 

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. Craig Venter, the scientist who led the private sector race to map the Human Genome - is applying for worldwide patents on what they refer to as "Mycoplasma laboratorium." In the tradition of 'Dolly,' ETC has nicknamed this synthetic organism (or... Read more

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE INTERNATIONAL NANOTECHNOLOGY COMMUNITY AT LARGE

Civil Society-Labor Coalition Rejects Fundamentally Flawed DuPont-ED Proposed Framework Urges All Parties To Reject The Public Relations Campaign

April 12, 2007

To All Interested Parties:

We, the undersigned, submit this open letter to the international nanotechnology community at large.  We are a coalition of public interest, non-profit and labor organizations that actively work on nanotechnology issues, including workplace safety, consumer health, environmental welfare, and broader societal impacts.   

DuPont Chemical Company (DuPont) and Environmental Defense (ED) jointly have proposed a voluntary “risk assessment” framework for nanotechnology.  These groups intend to circulate their proposed framework both in the U.S. and abroad for consideration and/or adoption by various relevant oversight organizations, including the U.S. Environmental... Read more

ETC Group News Release February 1, 2007 www.etcgroup.org

Gambling with Gaia

On the Eve of the Release of UN Climate Change Report ETC Group Warns that US Government’s Push for Geoengineering is Unacceptable

On the day before the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) sounds its loudest alarm yet, ETC Group warns that some OECD states, led by the United States, are betting on a pie-in-the-sky techno-fix to address climate change. “Geoengineering” refers to the intentional, large-scale manipulation of the environment to bring about environmental change. With no hope for Kyoto, little political will to ask industry or voters to change lifestyles and a growing recognition that carbon trading is a farce, some governments are concluding that massive earth restructuring is the only way out. The Guardian reported earlier this week that the US government is lobbying... Read more

ETC GroupNews ReleaseWednesday, 24 January 2007www.etcgroup.org

Winners of Nano-Hazard Symbol Contest Announced at World Social Forum, Nairobi, Kenya

An estimated 30,000 people gathered at the World Social Forum in Nairobi this week where participants had a chance to vote for their favorite Nano-Hazard Symbol – a design that warns of the presence of engineered nanomaterials (1 nanometer = 1 billionth of a meter).The winners of the international graphic design competition were announced today. The winning designs were submitted by: Dimitris Deligiannis (Greece), Shirley Gibson (Scotland), and Kypros Kyprianou (England). “Tiny tech is no small matter – there was intense competition to design a nano-hazard symbol, and enormous interest in Nairobi,” said Pat Mooney of ETC Group. “We ended up with three winners who were virtually tied for first place,” explained Mooney.The competition netted 482 unique designs from 24 countries. An independent panel of... Read more

News ReleaseETC Group January 16, 2007www.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 Introduction to Synthetic Biology, is available for downloading free-of-charge on the ETC Group website.

"Genetic engineering is passé," said Pat Mooney, Executive Director of ETC... Read more

ETC Group News Release Wednesday, 10 January 2007 www.etcgroup.org First Round of Nano-Hazard Symbol Contest Ends; ETC Group Takes Finalists to the World Social Forum, Nairobi, Kenya, 20-25 January Hundreds of people from all over the globe participated in ETC Group's competition to design a Nano-Hazard Symbol that warns of the presence of engineered nanomaterials. The winning design will be submitted to international standard-setting bodies responsible for hazard characterisation and could be used as a label on product-packaging or workroom walls. After three full months of activity, the first round of the contest ended January 8. (More information on the competition, along with the list of judges, can be found here: http://www.etcgroup.org/nanohazard ) "The response to the Nano-Hazard Symbol competition has been overwhelming, and we're grateful for the participation of... Read more

News Release ETC Group 18 October 2006 www.etcgroup.org

EPA’s Nanotech Regs: Ironic Parameters Clean-up – Clam-up – Screw-up?

During summer vacation, the lead US environmental regulatory agency acknowledged it has approved at least 15 novel nano-scale chemicals. Earlier this year EPA sanctioned the unproven use of iron nanoparticles to clean up a pesticide dump. Hearings this week.

Hard on the heels of a US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) commitment to consult openly and widely on the development of a regulatory approach to nanotechnology, the government has given the green light to introduce more than 15 novel, nano-formulated chemicals. Additionally, the EPA itself is experimentally testing iron nanoparticles to clean up groundwater in “Superfund” toxic dumps in a number of locations. The composition of the approved nano-chemicals, their potential commercial end-uses and even the manufacturers’... Read more

Nanotech Rx

Medical applications of Nano-scale technologies: What Impact on Marginalized communities?

Issue: Medical applications of nano-scale technologies have the potential to revolutionize healthcare by delivering powerful tools for diagnosing and treating disease at the molecular level. But the current zeal for nano-enabledmedicines could divert scarce medical R&D funds away from essential health services and direct resources away from non-medical aspects of community health and wellbeing. Although nanomedicine is being touted as a solution to pressing health needs in the global South, it is being driven from the North and is designed primarily for wealthy markets. Using nano-scale technologies, the pharmaceutical industry’s ultimate goal is to make every person a patient and every patient a paying customer by “medicating” social ills with human performance enhancement (HyPE) drugs and devices. Nanoenabled HyPEs could usher in an era of... Read more

Les applications médicales des nanotechnologies: Quel en sera l’impact sur les collectivités marginalisées?

L’enjeu : L’application des nanotechnologies au domaine médical peut révolutionner les soins de santé en offrant des outils puissants pour le diagnostic et le traitement des maladies à l’échelle moléculaire. Mais l’engouement pour les nanomédicaments risque de détourner les fonds déjà limités de la RxD (RD médicale) consacrés à des  besoins essentiels en santé et d’accaparer des ressources qui pourraient aller aux aspects non médicaux de la santé et du bien-etre de la collectivité. Meme si on la présente comme une panacée aux besoins pressants du Sud mondialisé, la nanomédecine est controlée par le Nord et concue avant tout pour les marchés riches. Les nanotechnologies donnent à l’industrie pharmaceutique les moyens de transformer chaque personne en... Read more

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).

"The researchers meeting in Berkeley acknowledge the dangers of... Read more

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 Nature warned, "if biologists are indeed on the threshold of synthesizing new life forms, the scope for abuse or... Read more

News Release ETC Group April 7, 2006 www.etcgroup.org

Nanotech Product Recall Underscores Need for Nanotech Moratorium: Is the Magic Gone?

ETC Group today renewed its 2003 call for a global moratorium on nanotech lab research and a recall of consumer products containing engineered nanoparticles. There is particular urgency for those products that are ingested, applied to the body or released in the environment. The need for action is underscored following the decision by German authorities to recall a nanotech bathroom cleaner, "Magic Nano" - purportedly a product of nanotechnology. At least 77 people reported respiratory problems in late March after using the product. Six people were hospitalized but later released when their respiratory distress faded.(1) The company marketing "Magic Nano" is Kleinmann GmbH, a German subsidiary of Illinois Tool Works (a US Fortune 200 corporation with 650 subsidiaries in 45 countries and 49,000 employees). Kleinmann sells "Magic... Read more

The Coalition Against Biopiracy exposed the globe's nastiest biopirates and rewarded the most steadfast resistors at the Captain Hook Awards on 24 March during the meeting of the 8th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Curitiba, Brazil. This ETC Group Communique provides a detailed description of the 2006 award winners.

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