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Human Tissue Collection Initiatives by the U.S. Military; Colombian Indigenous Peoples' Cells in the U.S.; Accompanying maps showing cell collections inColombia and Papua New Guinea
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RAFI's survey of agricultural biodiversity reveals that 75% of ex situ genetic resources and technology are held in the North, while 83% of in-situ genetic resources and technology are held in the South. Multilateral regimes for agricultural biodiversity management must insure that proceeds from biodiversity benefits go to the South's farmers.
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ISSUE: Biodiversity prospecting is the exploration, extraction and screening of biological diversity and indigenous knowledge for commercially valuable genetic and biochemical resources. Bilateral bioprospecting agreements are sanctioned by the multilateral Convention on Biological Diversity. In the vast majority of cases, however, commercial bioprospecting agreements cannot be effectively monitored or enforced by source communities, countries, or by the Convention, and amount to little more than "legalized" bio-piracy.
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RAFI examines plant utility patents granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office from 1985 through mid-1995. Utility plant patenting is a threat to world food security; exceedingly broad patents on biological materials and the processes used to manipulate them are "locking up" new plant biotechnologies in the hands of a small number of corporations.
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This issue looks at biopiracy case studies around the world including super-sweet brazzein from Gabon; the Foundation for Ethnobiology in Thailand; Peruvian indigenous peoples' rejection of Washington University's ICBG project; and more. A detailed list of bioprospecting and biopiracy activities (as of early 1996) is also included.
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Submitted by ETC Group on
Submitted by ETC Group on
Submitted by ETC Staff on
Phytophtora infestans, also known as the "late potato blight" is the fungus that caused the Great Potato Famine of 1845-49. One hundred and fifty years later, the blight is back again in new and deadlier forms. Will governments muster the political will to wage a true war against hunger and food insecurity? A nine page document.
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A detailed examination of the impact of the US Plant Patent Act. Passed by the US Congress in 1930, the PPA is the world's oldest sui generis intellectual property system designed for the patenting of life forms.
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In the race to identify patent and commercialize human genes, scientists and their corporate partners are collecting DNA samples from remote island populations in the South Atlantic, Micronesia and the east China sea. This issue highlights Sequana's search for the "asthma gene" derived from DNA samples collected from the people of Tristan da Cunha.
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In 1995, Calgene commercialized a genetically modified rapeseed that produces the lauric fatty acid - a product derived traditionally from tropical oils Will Calgene's high-lauric rapeseed displace markets for coconut and palm kernel oil producers in the tropics?
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Privatization and patenting of microorganisms is encouraged by WTO TRIPs. RAFI examines the value of microbial markets and microbial biopiracy.
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Submitted by ETC Staff on
This document reviews the year-long controversy over Agracetus's species-wide patent on all genetically modified soybean varieties. In April 1994, with the support of 18 CSOs worldwide, RAFI announced it would formally challenge the patent at the European Patent Office. A summary of RAFI's opposition statement appears here. A 14 page document.
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Pharmaceutical companies dont want to study rare plants. They want to test the most - commonly used species. The valuable medical plants are those with the longest track record in the most location. In a survey of almost 1.000 medical plants used around the world, most of the pharmacologically - (and commercially) interesting species are employed in more than one community, and often, in several countries. This is great news for BioPirates, who can move benevolently from place to place in search of the best deal.
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Who benefits from agricultural biodiversity that originates in the farms, fields and forests of the South? A 14 page document.
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One of the most eagerly awaited publications in the plant genetic resources (PGR) community. - Diversity 1994, 10(2), 25
The recent GATT agreement and the Biodiversity Convention have moved intellectual property rights to the centre of South-North relations.
Decisions about intellectual property, particularly for plant life, have major implications for food security, agriculture, rural development, and the environment for every country in the South and the North. For the South, in particular, the impact of intellectual property on farmers, rural societies, and biological diversity will be profoundly important.
* Patents granted for genetically engineered cotton could profoundly influence the future of a $20 billion crop critical to many national economies in the South.
* Farmers' organizations in Andean countries believe that patents granted for two varieties of coloured cotton do not recognize the major contribution to the new product by indigenous communities in South and Central America.
Submitted by ETC Group on
Submitted by ETC Group on
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