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The conditions to the access and use of information recorded in databases are the subject of fierce international debate. For some, it is a question of « protecting » their national resources and biodiversity, and for others one of « avoiding » current regulations. The ability to patent living organisms on a massive scale is a key issue that […]

Companies, farmer organizations and researchers are all presently immersed in a digital society. Whether desired or not, one of the major agricultural and environmental debates stirring international bodies is that of « digital sequence information ». The stakeholders are each and all expressing their particular positions in the course of these negotiations. While the digital management of […]

  Ever since the 1992 convention on biological diversity, “genetic resources” have been under state sovereignty. On signing this convention the poorer countries of the world were able to state that “although industrially poor, we do at least have “green gold” : our biodiversity”. A variety of international texts subsequently guaranteed the exploitation of this wealth […]

Words, by guiding our thoughts, guide our actions. In the field of biotechnology, it is essential to be aware of unstated intentions. Other peoples’ language, whether accepted or used without a critical eye, may force our consent. Somewhere between self-confirming statements (tautology), false logic (sophism) and authoritative arguments (rhetoric) the following cases of discursive strategy […]

  Over the past few years companies have been forwarding the argument that the traceability of certain new GMOs would be impossible. However, that such traceability techniques do exist is proved by their current standardization by the international authorities in other domains as well as their routine use by the companies.   In 2017, the […]

According to companies, GMO products of genetic modification techniques are patentable because they are considered “inventions”. But to obtain these patents, the European Patent Office (EPO) require from the applicants to be clear about the techniques used for obtaining the organisms or genetic sequences covered by their patent. This obligation shows that, for the EPO, it is possible to differentiate, e.g. between GMOs obtained by patentable mutagenesis techniques on the one hand, and GMOs obtained by other techniques or any other organisms present in nature, on the other hand.

In November 2018, the presence of unauthorized genetically modified bacteria was detected in lots of vitamin B2. This vitamin, marketed in Europe as feed additive, had been produced in China from these GM bacteria which should not have been in the final product [1]. An unusual contamination Immediate action is taken by national and European authorities. […]

GM tomato paste was the first product sold in the UK, but this was soon withdrawn. Protests against Monsanto’s GM RoundUp Ready soy imports began in 1996, including some high profile direct actions against shipments. Consumer actions included voluntary labelling of supermarket products with stickers, and handing out leaflets outside stores. In 1998, Iceland became […]

GMOs have been under discussion in Europe since the end of the 1990s. The subject has mobilised a broad spectrum of civil society. But the GMO acronym generally refers only to transgenic organisms, whereas over the last 15 years the biotech companies have developed “new techniques” for modifying living organisms. These developments have been – […]