Re: OGM: (ennesimo) inganno globale

Inviato da  _gaia_ il 12/1/2007 11:56:22

Ciao Argon, in attesa dei tuoi contributi inserisco qui una notizia di oggi riguardante una protesta dei coltivatori sudamericani contro la patata "terminator" della Syngenta:

Andean farmers pick potato fight with Syngenta

A coalition of indigenous farmers in South America will today (12 January) launch an international protest against the multinational corporation Syngenta, claiming that its plans threaten their region's biodiversity, culture and food sovereignty.

In an open letter signed today by representatives of 34 indigenous communities in Peru, the coalition says Syngenta's claims that its patent for 'terminator technology' potatoes is neither relevant nor applicable in the region are "deeply offensive".

The Indigenous Coalition Against Biopiracy in the Andes says that by commercialising such potatoes, the corporation would threaten more than 3,000 local potato varieties that form the basis of livelihoods and culture for millions of poor people.

It wants Syngenta to publicly disown the patent, which describes a genetic-modification process that could be used to stop potatoes from sprouting unless a chemical is applied.
(...)

Syngenta says it has a policy not to use terminator technology but defines the term solely as a "hypothetical process, which leads to plants with infertile seeds", adding that it was patented by another company in 1998.

In March 2004, however, Syngenta was granted its own patent (US patent 6,700,039) for a genetic modification process that stops tubers -- plant storage organs such as potatoes -- from sprouting unless an external chemical is applied. (-->)