Fwd: RAFI News: More Seed Sterilization

Libby J. Goldstein (libby@igc.apc.org)
Thu, 28 Jan 1999 11:40:11 -0500

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>Subject: RAFI News: More Seed Sterilization
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>Rural Advancement Foundation International - RAFI
>Press Release - 27 January 1999
>http://www.rafi.org
>
>
> ------------------------------------------
> Genetic Seed Sterilization is "Holy Grail"
> for Ag Biotechnology Firms
> ------------------------------------------
> New Patents for "Suicide Seeds" Threaten
> Farmers and Food Security Warns RAFI
>
>
>The Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI), a Canadian-based
>rural advocacy organization, announced today that it has uncovered over
>three dozen new patents describing a wide range of techniques that can be
>used for the genetic sterilization of plants and seeds. "The patents reveal
>that engineered seed sterility is not an isolated research agenda - it's
>the Holy Grail of the ag biotech industry," says Pat Mooney of RAFI. The
>disclosure follows on the heels of a controversial patent unveiled last
>year, christened the "Terminator" by RAFI, that continues to generate
>worldwide protest and debate because it renders farm-saved seed sterile -
>forcing farmers to return to the commercial seed market every year. The
>Terminator patent is jointly owned by the US Department of Agriculture and
>a Monsanto subsidiary, Delta & Pine Land Co.
>
>"The notorious Terminator patent is just the tip of the iceberg," explains
>RAFI's Mooney, "Every major seed and agrochemical enterprise is developing
>its own version of suicide seeds," he adds.
>
>"We've uncovered dozens of patents that disclose new and more insidious
>techniques for genetic sterilization of plants and seeds - and even
>animals," says Edward Hammond of RAFI. "Novartis, AstraZeneca, and Monsanto
>are among the Gene Giants who have sterile seeds in the pipeline, while
>others like Pioneer Hi-Bred, Rhone Poulenc, and DuPont have technologies
>that could easily be turned into Terminators." The primary goal of several
>of the the newly patented techniques is to sterilize seed so that farmers
>cannot save and re-plant seed.
>
>A number of the patents use benign-sounding technical terms such as
>"controlled gene expression" linked to "inducible promoters" to describe
>their sterilization techniques. Other patents describe "killer genes" that
>destroy pollen, or "GRIM proteins" that do the same to invertebrates or
>even mammalian cells. A patent owned by Astra/Zeneca candidly admits that
>their sterilization processes "are not desirable per se."
>
>Sterile Seeds: Why Worry? "These technologies are extremely dangerous,"
>explains RAFI's Mooney, "because over 1.4 billion farmers - primarily poor
>farmers in Africa, Asia and Latin America - depend on farm-saved seed as
>their primary seed source. If they can't save seed, they can't continue to
>adapt crops to their unique farming environments, and that spells disaster
>for global food security."
>
>"Genetic seed sterility is not about improving the productivity or quality
>of crops, it's a quest to increase seed industry profits," adds Mooney,
>"First and foremost, these technologies are intended to force farmers to
>buy seed every season and to take still more crop production control away
>from farmers."
>
>A Platform for Inducing Chemical Sales: The new generation of patents goes
>beyond the genetic neutering of crops. The patents reveal that companies
>are developing suicide seeds whose genetic traits can be turned on and off
>by an external chemical "inducer" -- mixed with the company's patented
>agrochemicals. In the not-so-distant future, we may see farmers planting
>seeds that will develop into productive (but sterile) crops only if sprayed
>with a carefully prescribed regimen that includes the company's proprietary
>pesticide, fertilizer or herbicide. The latest version of Monsanto's
>suicide seeds won't even germinate unless exposed to a special chemical,
>while AstraZeneca's technologies outline how to engineer crops to become
>stunted or otherwise impaired if not regularly exposed to the company's
>chemicals. RAFI calls it "Traitor Technology."
>
>Sound far-fetched? Not according to Novartis (a Swiss life industry
>giant), whose patent (US 5,789,214) describes a process for chemically
>regulating a number of developmental processes in plants -- such as
>germination, sprouting, flowering, fruit ripening, etc. The patent
>specifically mentions that the chemical regulator can be applied to plants
>in combination with a fertilizer or herbicide. "If the companies can
>genetically program suicide seeds to perform only with the application of
>proprietary pesticide or fertilizer, it means they will increase sales of
>their patented agrochemicals and other proprietary inputs," explains Edward
>Hammond of RAFI. "Chemically-dependent suicide seeds are a dazzling
>technological achievement and a brilliant marketing strategy, but it's grim
>news for farmers and the environment," concludes Hammond.
>
>>From Biosafety to BioSerfdom: "We'll be hearing plenty of industry
>arguments in favor of engineered seed sterility and Traitor Technologies,
>but the ultimate goal," says Pat Mooney of RAFI, "is not breeding benefits
>or biosafety, but bioserfdom."
>
>"If Traitor technologies are developed for commercial sale," predicts
>RAFI's Mooney, "farmers will be forced to surrender control of their seed
>supply and the Gene Giants will ultimately dictate what the farmer grows,
>how to grow it, and where to sell it. Seed sterility is not about insuring
>quality or productivity, it's a power grab pure and simple," concludes
>Mooney.
>
>"The seed and agrochemical industry will argue that engineered seed
>sterility is highly beneficial to the environment because it will eliminate
>the problem of horizontal gene transfer - it will prevent cross-pollination
>and thus the escape of engineered genes from transgenic plants to nearby
>weeds or wild relatives," explains Hope Shand of RAFI. There is concern
>that transgenic plants could pass genes on to wild plant relatives - thus
>creating "superweeds" that could wreak havoc on the environment. Suicide
>seeds could put to rest the specter of genetic pollution, and it
>conveniently offers a "green" rationale for acceptance of genetic seed
>sterility. The industry will also argue that suicide seeds prevent
>pre-harvest crops from sprouting prematurely, and that it will decrease the
>cost of producing hybrid seeds. Finally, industry will argue that they
>can't continue to develop new, more productive varieties for agriculture
>unless they get a fair return on their investment.
>
>No matter what rationale is used by the Gene Giants to engineer social
>acceptance of seed sterility, the technology is unacceptable to growing
>numbers of civil society organizations around the world who are calling for
>Terminator Technologies to be banned by governments. According to RAFI, the
>easiest way to ban Terminator is for national patent offices to reject
>Traitor claims on the legal grounds of ordre public (against public
>morality).
>
>The specter of genetic seed sterilization is so serious that Terminator
>technologies will be debated at several United Nations bodies, including UN
>Food and Agriculture Organization in April, the Convention on Biological
>Diversity in May, the UN Commission on Science, Technology, and Development
>in May.
>
>A RAFI report to be released later this week, "Traitor Technology" provides
>an in-depth analysis of the seed sterility patents. For this study and a
>detailed chart of patent claims, visit RAFI's homepage at:
>http://www.rafi.org
>
>-------
>
>CONTACTS:
>
>Pat Mooney, Executive Director
>RAFI
>Tel: +1 204-453-5259
>E-mail: rafi@rafi.org
>
>Edward Hammond, Program Officer
>RAFI
>Tel: +1 206-323-7378
>E-mail: hammond@rafi.org
>
>Hope Shand, Research Director
>RAFI
>Tel: +1 717-337-6482
>E-mail: hope@rafi.org
>
>
>

libby@igc.apc.org Libby J. Goldstein phone & fax: 215-465-8878
Philadelphia USDA zone 7A Sunset zone 32

My garden must be n-dimensional if it's out here in cyberspace.

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