Fw: Terminating just about everything, with a little help from MAI (?)
Audrey Malan (dbrown@wavecom.net)
Fri, 12 Feb 1999 08:50:24 -0800
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Henri.Day@DIKEMARK.OSLOHELSE.telemax.no
> <Henri.Day@DIKEMARK.OSLOHELSE.telemax.no>
> To: fair-trade@scn.org <fair-trade@scn.org>
> Date: Saturday, January 30, 1999 4:56 AM
> Subject: Terminating just about everything, with a little help from MAI
(?)
>
>
> > 990130
> >
> >Dear friends,
> >
> >Why is the passage of the MAI--by one name or another--so important to
the
> >great corporations ? And why is stopping this agreement so vital to the
> rest of
> >us ? The following posting, which nowhere mentions MAI, gives us an
inkling
> >as to how useful such an agreement could be for, let us say, Monsanto,
> should
> >any government or local authority attempt to prevent terminator
technology
> >from being used in plant agriculture or animal husbandry....
> >
> >Henri
> >
> >>Forward< :
> >
> >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
> >
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