CROP CONTAMINATION AND THE FUTURE OF INDIGENOUS AGRICULTURE
will be one of the major themes at
Biodevastation 7: A Forum on Environmental Racism, World Agriculture and
Biowarfare
May 16-18, 2003, Mildred Bastian Theatre, 5600 Oakland, St. Louis, Missouri
USA
www.biodev.org
Dr. Ignacio Chapela, University of California at Berkeley
Dr. Mae Wan Ho, Institute for Science in Society (London)
Michael Dorsey, Dartmouth College
Ana Ruiz Diaz, Permaculture Network of Mexico
Transgenic DNA has made its way into traditional maize landraces in Oaxaca,
Mexico. Dr. Ignacio Chapela will elaborate on the extent to which transgenic
corn has contaminated indigenous maize and is actively growing in Mexico. He
will also address some of the political economic implications of his research
findings in Mexico for the $30 billion global seed market. As he noted in
the California Weekly “The East Bay Express” in 2002, there’s something
inherently unnerving about the fact that his $2,000 research project has
provoked such an intense reaction from an industry that has poured millions
into biotechnology research.
Beyond the impacts of transgenic DNA in indigenous corn, the panel will
explore how horizontal gene transfer threatens biodiversity on a global scale.
As panelist Dr. Mae Wan Ho notes, “Horizontal gene transfer could spread
transgenic DNA to unrelated species, in principle, to all species that
interact with the transgenic plant, including bacteria and viruses in all
environments, and animals that feed on the plant. Chief among the potential
dangers are the spread of antibiotic resistance marker genes, the creation of
new viruses and bacteria that cause diseases, and insertion mutagenesis,
including cancer in mammalian cells.
Genetic pollution and horizontal gene transfer also underscore the importance
of a largely unseen development which is nevertheless changing the face of
life on earth: the transgenic manipulation of “lesser species,” such as
microbes, insects and fish. Drs. Chapela and Ho will chart recent
developments and preview what is to come in this field.
The panel will also consider the ways which bioprospectors and biopirates
alike are rent seeking patents and profits on select aspects of plant genetic
resources, fauna and human beings — often without the prior informed consent
of indigenous communities where the collection is underway. Panelist Michael
Dorsey, a researcher at Dartmouth College, notes “Preliminary data from the
upper Amazon basin indicates that the benefits of bioprospecting overwhelming
apply to firms and institutions based in the global north and not to the
countries where prospecting occurs, and especially not to indigenous
communities where prospecting often takes place.”
Panelist Ana Ruiz Diaz, from the Permaculture Network of Mexico, will
consider the extent of community and indigenous resistance to contemporary
bioterrorism. Ruiz Diaz will discuss efforts to pass the Mexican Federal Law
for Packaging which sought to impose a moratorium on genetically modified
organisms, as well as on ongoing legal efforts to stop foreign bioprospecting
and biopiracy in Mexico.
As Diaz notes, “Although multinational firms are conducting a huge planetary
experiment capable of threatening the global food supply, communities are not
standing still, and they will not — ever.”
The major panel on crop contamination will be�
10:00 am, Sunday, May 18. “Crop Contamination and the Future of Indigenous
Agriculture”
Biodevastation 7 also includes the following panel discussions:
10:00 am, Friday, May 16. “The International Threat to Farms and Farmers”
7:00 pm, Friday, May 16. ” Globalization, Food Imperialism and War ”
10:00 am, Saturday, May 17. “Backyard Bioweapons: Biolabs, Biodefense,
Biotech, & Billions of $”
7:30 pm, Saturday, May 17. “Environmental Racism”
On the afternoon of Sunday, May 18 there will be an anti-globalization
convergence at the World Agricultural Forum. www.worldagforum.com or
314-771-8576
Biodevastation 7 is sponsored by the Gateway Green Alliance, P.O. Box 8094,
St. Louis MO 63156, USA 314-664-1199 www.gatewaygreens.org
Cosponsors: Institute for Social Ecology, Greens/Green Party USA, JMG
Foundation, Ben & Jerry’s Foundation, Solidago Foundation, Fund for Wild
Nature
