Battle Over Life Form Patents Continues

Farm News from Cropchoice
An alternative news service for American farmers
http://www.cropchoice.com

3/2/2004
Life (Pat. pend), other CropChoice news, commentary
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(Tuesday, March 2, 2004 -- CropChoice) -- Here are excerpts from and links
to a few of the CropChoice news and commentary pieces from this week so
far and last.
Empty promises, declining soybean production in Argentina...
http://www.cropchoice.com/leadstry.asp?recid=2420

The war about drugs: Coming to a corn patch near you

(Tuesday, March 2, 2004 -- CropChoice guest commentary) -- The results of
a recent study carried out in the U.S. will come as no surprise to
Canadian canola growers. The study looked at three main food crops - corn,
soybeans and canola - and concluded that more than two-thirds of the seed
samples from the 36 conventional varieties that were tested contained
genetically engineered strands of DNA. This is consistent with research
done at the University of Manitoba that found stray DNA from genetically
modified (GM) canola varieties in many of the foundation seedstocks of
conventional canola.

It is worth noting too, that the American experiments could not test for
many of the genetically engineered DNA sequences found in GM crops because
the sequences are trade secrets...
http://www.cropchoice.com/leadstry.asp?recid=2421
Life (Pat. Pend.)

(Sunday, Feb. 29, 2004 -- CropChoice guest commentary) -- As cloning and
genetic engineering grab headlines in the American media, it¹s easy to
miss the anger that America¹s biotech companies are stirring up around the
globe with more low-tech tactics.

In the most recent such dispute, Greenpeace, along with Indian research
and agricultural groups, seeks to overturn a patent involving an Indian
wheat variety called Nap Hal. St. Louis-based Monsanto Co. vows to defend
its patent. The company appears to be reflexively pushing the boundaries
of what can be called an invention, while the scientists, farmers and
activists accuse it of stealing an indigenous variety...
http://www.cropchoice.com/leadstry.asp?recid=2418
Nations agree to new rules for labeling genetically engineered foods...
http://www.cropchoice.com/leadstry.asp?recid=2417