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Articles Discussing Biotechnology Patent Issues • Patenting Indigenous People - Biotechnology • Biotechnology Chronicles • Biotechnology, Biopiracy, and the Mentality of Science • Biotechnology - Biopiracy: The Legal Perspective • Biotechnology - Is it Bio-prospecting or Biopiracy?

The recent issue of Dr. Seed's human cloning project has been a heated debate, but not the only one surrounding biotechnology and biotechnology patents. The following is a review of material that tackles the controversial issues surrounding biotechnology patents.

Out of Control Patents
As listed by RAFI (Now the ETC group), an international non-governmental organization headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, dedicated to the conservation and sustainable improvement of agricultural biodiversity, and to the socially responsible development of technologies useful to rural societies. RAFI is concerned about the loss of genetic diversity - especially in agriculture and the impact of intellectual property rights on agriculture and world food security.

RAFI has several fascinating and serious patent controversies documented on their website, the most recent (as of this writing) of which is subtitled how to "invent" a chickpea without really trying, a controversy involving the Australian seed industry's attempt to gain a monopoly on Asian chickpeas. Another interesting story is Bolivian Quinoa Claimed in US Patent, a report of how agronomists Duane Johnson and Sarah Ward of Colorado State University received US patent# 5,304,718. The patent gives Johnson and Ward exclusive monopoly control of male sterile plants of the traditional Bolivian "Apelawa" Quinoa variety and its use in creating other hybrid Quinoa varieties. Quinoa if you do not already know is a hardy, nutrient rich and tasty (I've tried it) South American grain that has been grown and developed by indigenous peoples for centuries.

Biotechnology Trivia
On March 31, 1981, Ananda Chakrabarty patented a new single cell life form.

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