Once again, our good friends at Monsanto are back in the news attempting to take control over yet another sector of our food production.
Monsanto is justly famous, or rather infamous, for foisting genetically modified canola on us. The plant has become a noxious weed in some areas. It freely cross pollinates with non GM canola passing on it's GM payload and prompting Monsanto to sue farmers whose crops show the patented genes whether or not the farmer has ever knowingly grown the Monsanto version. They are equally infamous for introducing "terminator seeds" that produce sterile offspring.
This time the target is our morning bacon. Or at least the pigs that produce it. According to Reuters, Monsanto wants to branch out into control of livestock genetics as well.
Monsanto Company, already a world powerhouse in biotech crops, is shaking up the swine industry with plans to patent pig-breeding techniques and lay claim to the animals born as a result.Agricultural experts are scrambling to assess how these patents might affect the market, while consumer activists warn that if the company is granted pig-related patents, on top of its tight rein on key feed and food crops, its control over agriculture could be unprecedented.
"We're afraid that Monsanto and other big companies are getting control of the world's genetic resources," said Christoph Then, a patent expert with Greenpeace in Germany....
"We applied for a patent ... for some specific reproductive processes in swine," said Monsanto spokesman Chris Horner. "Any pigs that would be produced using this reproductive technique would be covered by these patents."
The practices Monsanto wants to patent basically involve identifying genes that result in desirable traits in swine, breeding animals to achieve those traits and using a specialized device to inseminate sows deeply in a way that uses less sperm than is typically required....
The concerns over Monsanto's patents are two-pronged. One relates to how the patent claims involving the animals themselves would be used. There have been hundreds of animal patents granted over the last several years, including claims on salmon, chimps and mice. But the majority are genetically modified animals used in laboratory research, not common farm animals.
Some fear that Monsanto one day could be filing patent infringement lawsuits against pig farmers. Monsanto already has a track record of suing farmers whose crops contain some of the company's patented genetic plant technology....
Critics also say it is not apparent that Monsanto has actually invented anything new in swine reproduction. They say the company is simply trying to lay claim to a combination of practices already used along with genetic selection that occurs in nature.
Such concentration of control over food production is certainly worrisome - especially when the company involved has a lengthy track record of irresponsible and monopolistic behaviour. One can't help but wonder what is coming next. Perhaps "terminator piglets" that are also sterile and can't be used for breeding so producers are forced to buy embryos from Monsanto?
Monsanto is a greedy, heartless corporation. We need to protect the industry and our citizens from people such as these. One way I think would be to have Canada strike down the law allowing for patenting of life forms.
Monsanto, corning the swine industry?
Irony is, indeed, dead.
Och, the puir wee piglets.
I'm with Paladiea. How do we get this organized?
Up until this year the Federal Government had shares in Monsanto. According to the Heritage seed catalogue they have sold some of their shares.
The Federal Liberals work hand in glove with Monsanto, as do the courts in Canada, right up to the SCOC--witness the ruling on Percy Schmeiser. If our own government is supporting this voracious corporation, how do we stop them?
The government is ultimately responsible to it's citizens. The inconvience a slighted corporation can give them is nothing compared to the 'inconvience' angry voters can cause. I think we should organize. I would think most people are against the patenting of life.
Perhaps we can make a Charter claim, stating that the life form patent laws violate the charter because it denies people the timely access to genetically engineered pharmaceuticals....... Wild stab in the dark here.