Ahoy, Mates!
Submitted by ETC Staff on
What's the most scandalous case of biopiracy[1] in your country? Who's ripping off indigenous knowledge in your community? Which privateer is most egregiously pillaging the global commons for profit? Who's monopolizing your genes or patenting your plants?
Nominate your least favorite pirate for a 2008 Captain Hook Award. All outrageous achievements in biopiracy deserve recognition!
Nominate your most admired biopiracy-resistor for a 2008 Cog Award. All those who have fought off biopirates, defeated predatory patents or otherwise foiled the nefarious plots of fiendish privateers deserve recognition. (Cog Awards are so-named because cogs were ships designed to repel pirate attacks.)
¡Alerta, colegas!
Submitted by ETC Staff on
¿Cuál es el caso más escandaloso de biopiratería en su país? ¿quién saquea el conocimiento indígena en su comunidad? ¿Quién privatiza descaradamente los bienes comunes para lograr ganancias privadas? ¿Quién monopoliza sus genes o patenta sus cultivos?
Nomine a su pirata más odiado para los Premios Capitán Garfio 2008. ¡Necesitamos conocer los peores casos de biopiratería!
El Instituto Venter construye la secuencia más larga de ADN artificial (que no funciona)
Submitted by ETC Staff on
El Grupo ETC renovó su demanda de una moratoria a la liberación y comercialización de organismos artificiales, enfatizando que no hay regulación ni debate social en torno a la biología sintética. La insistencia en la moratoria ocurre en el contexto del anuncio que hiciera el equipo de investigación de J. Craig Venter, de haber logrado sintetizar artificialmente un genoma del tamaño del de una bacteria, utilizando secuencias de ADN ordenadas por correo.
Venter Institute Builds Longest Sequence of Synthetic DNA (that Doesn’t Work)
Submitted by ETC Staff on
ETC Group renewed its call for a moratorium on the release and commercialization of synthetic organisms, asserting that societal debate on the oversight of synthetic biology is urgently overdue. The renewed call came as J. Craig Venter’s research team announced that it has constructed a bacterial-length synthetic genome in the lab using mail-order synthetic DNA sequences. They’ve named the synthetic genome, Mycoplasma genitalium JCVI-1.0, and it’s similar to its counterpart in nature, a genital bacterium with the smallest known genome of any free living organism. The announcement is not breaking news because the work had been previously reported, but the details were published today in Science.
Organic Pioneer Says No to Nano
Submitted by ETC Staff on
Now that you can drive your ‘nano’ car, listening to your iPod ‘nano’ while wearing ‘nano’ sunscreen and ‘nano’ clothing, the UK’s largest organic certifier has just introduced the perfect nano-antidote – a ‘nano-free’ standard for consumer products. The Soil Association – one of the world’s pioneers of organic agriculture – announced today that it is has banned human-made nanomaterials from the organic cosmetics, foods and textiles that it certifies. (1)