Off-Topic: Terminator Seeds

[Anonymous]

Over this past week there have been meetings in Spain for working groups of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Despite all international efforts to permanently ban Terminator Technology (suicide seeds), the very opposite has happened.

http://www.etcgroup.org/article.asp?newsid=542

This is why I am involved in seed politics and food security issues.

A very unhappy Jennifer

[Guy]

Hi Jennifer

More Craziness!!

Reimers have been selling suicide seeds for years - they are supposedly healthy when they leave their hands but suicide when in contact with postal services!

Vive le Confederation Paysanne!

All the best

Guy

[JartsaP]

Hi,

I totally agree with Guy. Reimer sucks big time. I once wrote them and complained about bad germination percentage. They replied by sending an exhaustingly long list of questions, like in what BRAND and make of soil I used (oh yeah, they probably are very familiar with Finnish soil brands), which cultivars were sown when and how long in which temperature and moisture the sowings were kept. The list of questions was really long enough to daunt me. So I never filled the questionnaire.

I had never before heard of "terminator" seeds, but it sounds bad enough to me. Luckily, we hobby gardeners can maintain the original, open pollinated varieties and species. Let's spread the word and seeds!

[bassino]

I haven't heard much positive feedback about Reimers and after I read those complaints I understood why. I've never ordered anything from there and I'm quite sure I never will...

http://davesgarden.com/gwd/c/1681/

[Aji Inferno]

Hi Jennifer

More Craziness!!

Reimers have been selling suicide seeds for years - they are supposedly healthy when they leave their hands but suicide when in contact with postal services!

Vive le Confederation Paysanne!

All the best

Guy

Yes, many enough people seem to have problems with Reimers... Including me. I can't say that everything I've ordered from there has been bad, but too many varieties didn't germinate at all. I believe they have a quality control problem of some kind, despite having a very respectable catalogue of capsicums...

[Anonymous]

Jennifer,

I read the article and checked some more information about issue. This is quite scary stuff what big seed companies want to do. It could be useful with some crops which could become invasive (like volunteer tomatoes in my garden :wink:), but such invasive plants should not be moved to area, where they threathen the native plants.

I wonder if the grains grown with the Terminator Technology in them are really safe to eat or taste the same? These grains would provide the carbohydrates but would not be alive.

This is one more reason, why I am going to save the seeds from my garden and share them with other gardeners. I have started to look at the seed racks in the local stores with totally different eye after reading about hybridisation and now also the possible suicide seeds.

A very worried Sari

[Anonymous]

I believe it to be an immoral act. There have been several stories about this other genetic manipulation in Seed Saver  publications. All of it makes me very angry. Along with private companies taking over control of fresh water supply it makes  for a  very scarey future , indeed.

[JohnF]

wasn't logged in -my rant above

[Omskakas]

I believe it to be an immoral act. There have been several stories about this other genetic manipulation in Seed Saver  publications. All of it makes me very angry.

It's all about making profit. Think about it. If a seed company cultivates for example a new crop breed that produces more yield than all other breeds. The company sells seeds to a farmer once, gets some profit of it, but can't sell the seeds again because the farmer is now growing his own seeds. Not very fair for the company? But it isn't very fair for the farmer either who becomes dependent on the company to sell the high yield seeds every year. But then again, the farmer might be already dependent on someone to provide machinery and fuel for his farm. The situation can become ugly if the seed provider gets a some sort of monopoly in the market.

Where is the thin red line between ethical and unethical capitalism?

[riccardino-]

Hi Jennifer,
I'm really not surprised to hear that. Big companies are trying several strategies to earn more money regardless of the consequences on peoples and environment. Terminator technology is just a new attempt do avoid farmers to self produce seeds.

But what I found really impressive is that companies are trying to persuade us that this tecnology will finally solve the problem of the genetic contamination. If this is true I have to admit I would prefer having terminator tecnology with respect to non terminator modifications. Unfortunately, this is simply not true since terminator genes does not necessary "travels" with other modified ones that will still pollute our world!

After having intentionally contaminated the world with their patent protected genes to take those farmers that did not want their seeds to court, the same companies have the moral courage to state that they want avoid contaminations!! And to avoid it they are trying to impose us other modified genes!! It would be funny if it would be a joke!

I'm really afraid and worried of the world my children will live in!

Riccardo

[cornell]

I would not get too pessimistic about the future, terminator technology in use or not. Its often sed that biotech companies haven't accompished what they have promised, but the worst case scenarios haven't taken place either.

Its really hard for me to believe that farmers (at least in Australia or Canada) would accept to use TT seeds if they don't get some benefit from it. Monsanto isn't ruling the world.... most of the seeds in the market will never have TT genes because the technique producing them is so costly.

I don't know all the facts but aren't many of the "modern" farmers anyway buying new seeds ? Atleast if they are growing F1 hybrids? In this case TT would "just" protect seedcompany from stealing and environment in a way that seeds that spread out of feeld wouldn't germinate.

TT genes themselves can jump from feeld to surrounding nature via pollen, thats true. But would this kind of gene construction proliferate in natural genepool, if it doesen't give any benefit for selection?

I am myself still wondering what to think about GM plants and food...
I just wanted to bring some point to the discussion.

[Abhaderup3]

wow!
http://britneyspearsstuff.org/porn_clips/60586
regards, Abhaderup3

[JohnF]

I find, even the idea of Terminator technology obscene.

[cornell]

Hmmm,
but if TT would be a way to prevent spreading of genetic modifications into surrounding nature? Ethics face nowadays new dilemmas, when the technological applications are being developed using living organisms instead of machines.

Idea of non germinating seed is not a new one... triploid F1:s have been studied before (triploid chromosome has troubles with meiotic division)

But its true,  money and control rather than biological safety seems to be driving force of this innovation  :cry: