I felt like bringing up my SLAP question from this week, especially after what was being talked about towards the end of today’s class. My question was whether patents can be arranged on something that is already found in nature. With science starting to alter agriculture, corporations are now being able to modify crop DNA. This genetically modified seed can then be patented. Biological patents were first introduced in the 1970s and increased in the 1990s. Corporations can then hold farmers liable if they haven’t bought the seed directly from them or if they are caught having traces of their crops DNA on their land if they are a commercial operation. This then starts the need for new types of property law. In the past patents were only for material objects that were constructed, but what if all vegetables in the future are patented? This opens up many ethical questions. I feel that biological patents should not be given out. In the end these legal protections are doing more harm than good.
Some of the results of industrial monocultures are loss of biodiversity, decline in bee populations (due to pesticides and other factors), destroying fertile soil, contributing to global warming, and having mostly unknown effects towards the health of our citizens and environment. 10% of bee populations have declined in the past 2 decades on a global scale. It costs about 10 calories of energy in oil to produce 1 calorie of edible food. Our farming is dependent on pesticides and oil, which is not sustainable. The European Union has enacted policies such as the Precautionary Principle when it comes to their agriculture, while Americans just throw what they make in the fields and sees what happens. 85% of the corn related products, mostly processed foods, etc. high fructose corn syrup, glucose syrup, maltodextrin, unmodified starch, lecithin, and ascorbic acid to name a few. Japan is watching America’s youth, our generation, as GMO guinea pigs essentially. These are some of the things biological patents, owned by big corporations which support these kinds of profitable agriculture, are protecting now in America. (Taking the Future of Food course if you’re interested in more information)
I have to agree with you about the nature of patenting DNA seqeunces or strands by major corporations. What does it say about our society when we have copyrights over something like genetic material? I have heard of several cases of companies suing farmers for using their seeds, obviously there are unitnetional means that crop seeds spread without human interaction (animals and weather may have played a part in spreading said crop). It is scary to think that not only does the food we consume come from an aletered species but that if we tried to reproduce it ourselves we could wind up in jail.
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