Publications

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... Leer más

ETC Group News Release 8 December 2007 www.etcgroup.org

Extreme Monopoly:

Venter’s Team Makes Vast Patent Grab on Synthetic Genomes

Six months ago ETC Group exposed the Venter Institute’s controversial patent applications on the world’s first human-made living organism built entirely from synthetic DNA (dubbed “Synthia” by ETC Group). Newly published patent claims reveal an even bigger grab for ownership of synthetic life.

A suite of patent applications lodged by J. Craig Venter and his colleagues claims exclusive monopoly on a wide swath of synthetic biology and demonstrate a not-so-subtle move to position Venter’s company, Synthetic Genomics, Inc., as the ‘microbesoft’ of synthetic life. Find out about Leer más

Grupo ETC Comunicado de prensa 1 de febrero de 2007 www.etcgroup.org

Ahora en español el documento completo del Grupo ETC

Jugando con Gaia

El Al ver cómo agoniza el Protocolo de Kioto, algunos gobiernos concluyen que una reestructuración planetaria es la única salida posible

Al tiempo que el Panel Internacional de Naciones Unidas sobre Cambio Climático (IPPC) hará pública su alarma más contundente hasta el momento, el Grupo ETC advierte que algunos países de la OCDE, encabezados por Estados Unidos, empujan por que se hagan solamente “arreglos técnicos” para enfrentar el cambio climático. El más extremo —la “geoingeniería”— se refiere a la manipulación intencional del ambiente a gran... Leer más

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... Leer más

Grupo ETC Boletín de prensa 10 de diciembre de 2007 www.etcgroup.org Hace seis meses, el Grupo ETC denunció las controvertidas solicitudes de patentes del Instituto Venter sobre el primer organismo artificial, creado con ADN sintético (que el Grupo ETC apodó “Sintia”. Nuevas solicitudes de patentes revelan una avaricia aún mayor por monopolizar esta incipiente industria

El nuevo conjunto de solicitudes de patentes tramitado por J. Craig Venter y sus colegas reclama el monopolio exclusivo sobre un vasto sector de la biología sintética y evidencian los esfuerzos, nada sutiles, de la empresa Synthetic Genomics por colocarse como la “microbiosoft” de la vida sintética. Más información en el cartel descargable “La... Leer más

ETC Group

News Release

8 December 2007

www.etcgroup.org 

 

Extreme Monopoly:

Venter’s Team Makes Vast Patent Grab on Synthetic Genomes

Six months ago ETC Group exposed the Venter Institute’s controversial patent applications on the world’s first human-made living organism built entirely from synthetic DNA (dubbed “Synthia” by ETC Group). Newly published patent claims reveal an even bigger grab for ownership of synthetic life.

 

A suite of patent applications lodged by J. Craig Venter and his colleagues claims exclusive monopoly on a wide swath of synthetic biology and demonstrate a not-so-subtle move to position Venter’s company, Synthetic Genomics, Inc., as the ‘microbesoft’ of synthetic life. Find out about Leer más

Ahí viene la plaga verde

La nanotecnología cobra vida

ETC Group Communiqué no. 77

El impacto más importante de las tecnologías a nano escala podría resultar de la fusión de la nanotecnología y la biotecnología: una nueva disciplina apenas reconocida, llamada nanobiotecnología. Si bien la plaga gris saltó a los titulares apenas se comenzó a especular sobre ella, la realidad es que los nano robots autoreplicables están muy lejos de poderse fabricar. En cambio, el escenario futuro más probable es la fusión de la materia viva y la inerte a partir de lo cual se fabricarán organismos y productos híbridos, cuyas formas y comportamientos serán impredecibles e incontrolables. ¡Prepárense para la plaga verde!

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Over half of the world's 100 largest economic entities are transnational corporations (TNCs), not nations. TNCs have unprecedented power to shape social, economic and trade policies. Corporate hegemony is usurping the role and responsibilities of national governments, threatening democracy and human rights. Over the past two decades ETC Group (formerly as RAFI) has monitored corporate power and trends in the "life sciences." Consolidation, technological convergence and non-merger corporate alliances are among the trends examined in this issue of ETC Communiqué.

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