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TWN
Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Jan10/02) Patents
on The following article was published in
the South-North Development Monitor (SUNS) #6844, With best wishes,
Environment: Plunder of Tanzanian farmers'
sorghum through patents Geneva, 18 Jan (Riaz K. Tayob) -- A new
study questions the legal and ethical basis for patents granted, and
other pending applications, on a gene isolated from a Tanzanian farmers'
variety of sorghum that may yield tremendous profits outside for multinational
corporations and research institutions outside The December 2009 African Centre for
Biosafety briefing paper "Africa's Granary Plundered: Privatisation
of Tanzanian Sorghum Protected by the Seed Treaty" by Edward Hammond
states that the gene, named SbMATE, has enormous commercial potential
because sorghum plants with the gene are tolerant to the negative combination
of acid and aluminium commonly found in soils throughout the world. Even though the research is still in
its infancy, large corporations have already expressed interest in licensing
SbMATE for further research for application in other species through
genetic engineering, possibly in maize, rice and eucalyptus trees. The briefing paper questions the ownership
of the gene from Tanzanian sorghum (IS7173), as patented in the "Not long ago, it seemed like the
question was settled in favour of farmers and citizens of developing
countries," the briefing paper states. This was through a 1994 In Trust Agreement
between the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
(CGIAR) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), and then
by the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and
Agriculture (ITPGRFA), in which it was established that the vast collection
of farmers' germplasm held by the CGIAR could not be patented "in
the form received" from those collections. The rational for the prohibition on intellectual
property claims was to further CGIAR's mission, "to achieve sustainable
food security and reduce poverty in developing countries through scientific
research." The briefing paper states that the variety
of sorghum from which SbMATE is sourced is part of the CGIAR collection
and is covered by Annex 1 of the ITPGRFA. Embrapa, one of three of the patent applicants,
obtained its material from Hugh Doggett (a breeder based in then British
colony Explaining the potential of the gene,
the briefing paper explains that aluminium tolerance is a major breeding
goal for a number of important crops that are often aluminium sensitive,
including sorghum, maize and rice. Aluminium toxicity is a significant constraint
on agricultural production and it is estimated to affect more than 20%
of the land in Sub-Saharan Africa and The patent application that calls the
gene "SbMATE" was granted in the In the international patent claim, the
applicants state that they are to seek national or regional patents
in more than 100 countries, including The briefing paper explains the scope
of the patents applied for. The patent claims the Tanzanian gene itself,
including its promoter sequence (which is activated by aluminium) and
related regulatory sequences. The applicants also claim any other Also claimed are genetically engineered
plants of any species that express the Tanzanian tolerance gene. Specifically
claimed are wheat, maize, sorghum, and rice plants with the SbMATE gene. The benefits of the SbMATE gene are not
limited to sorghum. For those that promote the widespread use of genetically
modified plants, the gene has the potential to unlock new agricultural
productivity on aluminium toxic soils that cover a large proportion
of the world's arable land, the briefing paper states. While the gene works in principle, research
is in its infancy. Widespread commercial use is years away, particularly
in non-sorghum crops into which the gene would have to be genetically
engineered. Even though the impact of the SbMATE
will only become clear in ensuing years, for now, the commercial potential
is significant and multinational giant Dow Chemicals is seeking to license
SbMATE to use it in maize and sorghum while In 2009, the entire genome of sorghum
was sequenced, well before that of other crops. The rapid development
of sorghum genomics is in part due to considerable interest in sorghum
as a source of ethanol for bio-fuels. The briefing paper states that a series
of new studies have again underscored the irreplaceable contribution
of African farmers' varieties (both old and new introductions), to the
A recent external review of one US Agency
for International Development (USAID) program in The sorghum in the "Sart", a Sudanese sorghum
introduced to the More recently, African contributions
that paid off handsomely for the The briefing paper warns that permitting
the SbMATE patent to stand, and for the private sector to profit from
it, would signal a new open hunting season on privatisation of the vast
collection of farmers' varieties of good crops held by the CGIAR. It
cautions that such patent claims pose a grave challenge to the ITPGRFA
and CGIAR. +
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