Re: [Fwd: Natural Life Magazine #61 - Saving Seed Becomes Illegal]

Don,
    Thank you for clearing that up.  I appreciate your ability to explain
what might otherwise seem confusing.
Thanks again,
Rachel - NW Oregon

>Well, Connie, I certainly can't deny that the seed and biotechnology
>companies are in it for the money, but it's really more complicated than
>that.
>
>As someone with practical experience in the genetic engineering field, I
>can tell you that the investment in doing this kind of work (whether you
>agree that it is good or bad - and that is a whole discussion in itself) is
>very expensive.  While I am not going to try to defend all practices done
>to protect this investment, there is the same rationale that folks use in
>the patenting of conventionally (non-genetically engineered) plants.  One
>you have made an investment of millions of dollars to develop a superior
>variety, you want some assurance of making back your investment (again,
>here is an area of widely varying views).  If you do not have the promise
>of significant return on your money, you lose the source of research
>dollars.
>
>It is also a bit simplistic to think that the F1 generation is useless.  If
>you have (at some considerable expense) inserted a gene (such as pest
>resistance from Bt), that gene is still there and could be used for further
>breeding.  Perhaps the average farmer might not do this, but a competetor
>might.
>
>Another consideration is that this is very unlikely to impact on us peons.
>The biotechnology companies are going where the money is, and that is for
>commercially valuable crops.
>
>I'm not saying any of this as a blanket defence of the biotechlology
>industry.  As we're all aware, this industry is opening up a whole
>Pandora's Box of ethical and legal questions.  However, it is my opinion
>that we have far more to gain than we have to lose.  Only the future will
>answer the question as to whether this will be true.
>
>Don Martinson
>Senior Research Associate
>Medical College of Wisconsin - FMLH/West
>Department of Medicine
>Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Clinical Nutrition
>9200 W. Wisconsin Ave.
>Milwaukee, WI  53226
>(414) 259-3817
>d*@post.its.mcw.edu
>
>
>
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