February 1, 1999
New Patents for Terminator Seeds Threaten Farmers and Food Security
The Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI) announced that it has
uncovered over three dozen new patents describing a wide range of
techniques that can be used for genetic sterilization of plants and seeds.
The disclosure follows on the heels of a controversial patent unveiled last
year and christened the "Terminator" by RAFI. The Terminator patent,
jointly owned by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and a Monsanto
subsidiary, continues to generate worldwide protest and debate because it
renders farm-saved seed sterile and forces farmers to buy commercial seed
market every year.
According to RAFI, every major seed and agrochemical enterprise is
developing its own version of Terminator seeds. Novartis, AstraZeneca, and
Monsanto are among the multinational corporations who have sterile seeds in
the pipeline, while others like Pioneer Hi-Bred, Rhone Poulenc, and DuPont
have seed technologies that could easily be turned into Terminators.
"These technologies are extremely dangerous," explains Pat Mooney of RAFI,
"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."
The seed sterilization patents uncovered by RAFI 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, farmers may be 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 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.
Ignoring potential impacts on farmers around the world, the seed and
agrochemical industry argues 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. Suicide seeds could eliminate the possibility of genetic
pollution and conveniently offers a "green" rationale for acceptance of
genetic seed sterility. Industry also argues that they can't continue to
develop new, more productive varieties for agriculture unless they get a
fair return on their investment.
Seed sterility technology is unacceptable to growing numbers of civil
society organizations worldwide who are calling for Terminator technologies
to be banned by governments. Farmers, scientists, and others from over 50
countries have sent more than 1850 letters to the U.S. Department of
Agriculture calling for an end to the Terminator. According to RAFI, the
easiest way for other countries to ban Terminator is for national patent
offices to reject these claims on the legal grounds of ordre public
(against public morality).
A RAFI report "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 www.rafi.org
Source: RAFI Press Release - 27 January 1999
Contact: RAFI, 110 Osborne Street, Suite 202, Winnipeg MB R3L 1Y5 Canada;
phone (204) 453-5259; fax (204) 925-8034; email rafi@rafi.org.
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