September 2002
Issue No. 349
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8 things you should know about Patents on Life
The very stuff of life itself is for sale. Dinyar Godrej tells us what we need to know in order to confront the high bidders.
The gene hunters
Australian biotech company Autogen dangled a big carrot in front of the people of the tiny Pacific islands of Tonga.
Lopeti Senituli for one lost his appetite.
Home-grown healing
A plant that holds out hope for people with aids in South Africa remains in the public domain. But that’s not where the story ends, as Ferial Haffajee discovers.
Conquest by patents
The US leads in the push for patents. But it wasn’t always that way, says Beth Burrows.
Pirates ahoy!
Some notorious claims inspected.
Barcoding life
Geneticists are playing Russian roulette with life, believes Jordi Pigem.
News, views, and & voices
Letter from Lebanon
My grandparents’ grave and the rancour of civil war, by Reem Haddad.
Southern Exposure
Women brick-kiln labourers, by Vietnam’s Nguyen Huu Tuan.
Worldbeaters
Tactically brutal, pragmatically treacherous: Afghan warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum.
Big Bad World
Corporate branding with a smile.
Currents
Desperate escape
Testimony of a North Korean refugee
Property and terror
fewer terrorist attacks
Dragging the debt chain
debt no less heavy
GATS goes to school
GATS & free trade in education
Mixed Media
Music
Live at Town Hall by Laurie Anderson
Music
London is the Place for Me by various artists.
Book
Palaver Finish by Chenjerai Hove
Book
Red Poppies by Alai
Film
Heaven directed by Tom Twyker
Making Waves
Filmmaker Jacquie Soohen talks about her time inside Bethlehem’s besieged Church of the Nativity.
Essay
There is little tolerance in Pakistan for alternative ideas, says Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, but squatters can still be a match for generals and financiers.
Country Profile
Angola
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from
THIS MONTH'S EDITOR
The nutraceutical guy leaned forward conspiratorially. ‘It’s the same old loonies, you know – the ones that go around digging up fields, protesting against genetic modification. They don’t know a thing about science.’
He was understandably feeling a bit threatened. His goal was to push food crops engineered to grow medicinal chemicals on to a sceptical public. These were foods for the future, promising a vision of health for all and an end to pill-popping. He hoped to persuade governments that they should be adopted on a large scale. If only something could be done about the loonies.
I indicated that I was willing to give him the benefit of my doubt. But wasn’t the problem that it was impossible to test fully the safety of something that was capable of reproducing independently in the wild? And did he think that patenting such food crops was just a touch exclusive?
Well, obviously he didn’t. For he muttered something about needing to protect ideas and owning patents himself, and moved on to find someone more agreeable to talk to.
There’s been a change afoot in the scientific temper for a while now; a change not unlamented by some in the scientific community. The days of teams of scientists working to find solutions for the good of humanity seem numbered. Profits lead and patents ensure them. Research relies increasingly on corporate backing these days. As solutions are sought in the living world, the building blocks of life are having patents slapped on them. What belongs to us all is being carved up and fenced off.
If you don’t think this should be happening, welcome to the loony club.
Dinyar Godrej for the New Internationalist Co-operative dinyarg@newint.org
Voices from the margins:
Multimedia: video, podcasts, and more.
- Poetry Slam in Zimbabwe
- The House of Hunger poetry slam held in Zimbabwe in 2006, and organised by the Pamberi Trust, showcased young artists performing inspirational work on issues from corporate power to child soldiers. The video features four of the poets.
Published by Pambazuka News.
- Iranian women speak out
- 3 March 2007, London. Women's rights activists marched through the English capital last week to celebrate International Women's Day with a protest against the misogyny of the Islamic regime in Iran and the threat of invasion by the US. Hear the voices of Iranian feminists Azar and Leila Parnian and the sounds of the demonstration as it passed through the heart of the city. Click here to learn more about the campaign.
Produced by Heidi Bachram.
- Raised Voices audio:
- Benny from West Papua on Corporate Power
- Vinayan from India on agriculture
