Hi Chris >nothing i've seen on this specifies which country, but someone told me >a report on the radio indicated chile.
Thankyou. >some earlier work by strobel >has resulted in patents being held by montana state university. i >don't know that the work being done in this instance is specific >enough to warrant patent certification, but if it is, you can bet >it'll be msu that gets it. but it looks more likely they're going to >get all the science worked out, for the benefit of whoever is quick- >and well capitalized-enough to eevelop a process which makes use of >that knowledge. By all rights it should belong to the indigenous people, who're quite likely aware of its existence, or they use it in some way. By all rights, that is, except for TRIPs, the WTO Agreement on Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights, aka "the Monsanto Agreement", which is a wrong not a right - not so much patenting as the enabling of theft, biopiracy. Three industry lobbying groups drafted the blueprint for the TRIPs agreement, led by the Intellectual Property Committee, a coalition of 13 giant US transnational corporations, including DuPont, Monsanto and Pfizer, which worked with the Union of Industrial and Employees Confederations of Europe (UNICE), which represents European business and industry, and the Keidanren, the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations, the Big Business Club, one of the most powerful organisations in Japan. The three groups worked directly with government negotiators to mould the agreement. Corporate Europe Observer commented: "Together these organizations produced a document titled Basic Framework for GATT Provisions on Intellectual Property, submitted to the GATT secretariat in 1988. Following submission of the document, came a massive lobbying campaign both nationally and in Geneva. This document formed the basis of the TRIPs agreement... The proposition had striking similarities with the final agreement text. Thus, the TRIPs agreement is not merely a result of negotiations between the GATT member countries, but put together by the corporations themselves." See "WTO Millennium Bug: TNC Control Over Global Trade Politics," Corporate Europe Observer - Issue 4, July 1999 <http://www.corporateeurope.org/observer4/> "What's wrong with the WTO? WTO processes favor big business and rich countries," by Peter Costantini, November 2001 <http://www.speakeasy.org/~peterc/wtow/wto-biz.htm> James Enyart, director of international affairs for Monsanto and a founding member of the Intellectual Property Committee, explained how the TRIPs agreement was drafted: "Once created, the first task of the IPC was to repeat the missionary work we did in the US in the early days, this time with the industrial associations of Europe and Japan to convince them that a code was possible. "We consulted many interest groups during the whole process. It was not an easy task but our Trilateral Group was able to distill from the laws of the more advanced countries the fundamental principles for protecting all forms of intellectual property. "Besides selling our concepts at home, we went to Geneva where [we] presented [our] document to the staff of the GATT Secretariat. We also took the opportunity to present it to the Geneva based representatives of a large number of countries. "What I have described to you is absolutely unprecedented in GATT. Industry has identified a major problem for international trade. It crafted a solution, reduced it to a concrete proposal and sold it to our own and other governments. "The industries and traders of world commerce have played simultaneously the role of patients, the diagnosticians and the prescribing physicians." See "A GATT Intellectual Property Code," James R Enyart, Les Nouvelles: Journal of the Licensing Executives Society, 1990, Vol 25 No 2 p 53-56 "The Monsanto Amendment: The Real Reasons for the Second Amendment of the Indian Patent Act," by Dr. Vandana Shiva, Synthesis/Regeneration 30, Winter 2003 <http://www.greens.org/s-r/30/30-19.html> Edmund Pratt, CEO of Pfizer, the world's biggest pharmaceutical company, said: "Our combined strength enabled us to establish a global private sector-government network which laid the foundation for what became TRIPs." TRIPs was actually drafted by PhRMA, the American pharmaceutical corporations' lobbying group. See "WTO Rules, Lifeblood of the Industry," Corporate Watch <http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/?lid=315> The WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services was "negotiated" the same way, by the same groups. USCSI leader Harry Freeman said: "At the close of the Uruguay Round we lobbied and lobbied." That's the way it's done at the WTO. Similar scenario with the "Cargill Agreement", the WTO's infamous Agreement on Agriculture, drafted by Cargill executive Daniel Amstutz. WTO trade agreements have been described as a bill of rights for corporate business. They're a bill of wrongs for just about everybody else. See also Grain.org: Bt cotton <http://www.grain.org/go/btcotton> BIO-IPR <http://www.grain.org/bio-ipr/> Bilateral agreements imposing TRIPS-plus intellectual property rights on biodiversity in developing countries <http://www.grain.org/rights/?id=68> Biopiracy <http://www.grain.org/search2/?cx=011859051348215176311%3Axtpmuri3kwu&q=+biopiracy&cof=FORID%3A11> Best Keith >On 11/10/08, Keith Addison <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> I wonder who'll end up owning the patent rights. It doesn't even say >> whether it's in Argentina or Chile, just "northern Patagonia". >> >> Best >> >> Keith >> >>>http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/04/biofuel-plants-biochemistry-science/print >>> >>>Scientists discover Patagonian diesel that grows on trees >>> >>> * Alok Jha, green technology correspondent >>> * The Guardian, >>> * Tuesday November 4 2008 >>> * larger | smaller >>> * Article history >>> >>>Myco-diesel fungus Gliocladium roseum >>> > >>The 'myco-diesel' fungus Gliocladium roseum, which grows inside the ulmo >>>tree in northern Patagonia >>> >>>A tree fungus could provide green fuel that can be pumped directly into >>>vehicle tanks, US scientists say. The organism, found in the Patagonian >>>rainforest, naturally produces a mixture of chemicals that is remarkably >>>similar to diesel. >>> >>>"This is the only organism that has ever been shown to produce such an >>>important combination of fuel substances," said Gary Strobel, a plant >>>scientist from Montana State University, who led the work. "We were >>>totally surprised to learn that it was making a plethora of hydrocarbons." >>> >>>In principle, biofuels are attractive replacements for liquid fossil >>>fuels used in transport that generate greenhouse gases. The European >>>Union has set biofuel targets of 5.75% by 2010 and 10% by 2020. But >>>critics say current biofuels scarcely reduce greenhouse gas emissions >>>and cause food price rises and deforestation. Producing biofuels >>>sustainably is now a target and this latest work has been greeted by >>>experts as an encouraging step. >>> >>>The fungus, called Gliocladium roseum and discovered growing inside the >>>ulmo tree (Eucryphia cordifolia) in northern Patagonia, produces a range >>>of hydrocarbon molecules that are virtually identical to the fuel-grade >>>compounds in existing fossil fuels. Details of the concoction, which >>>Strobel calls "mycodiesel", will be published in the November issue of >>>the journal Microbiology. "The results were totally unexpected and very >>>exciting and almost every hair on my arms stood on end," said Strobel. >>> >>>Many simple organisms, such as algae, are known to make chemicals that >>>are similar to the hydrocarbons present in transport fuel but, according >>>to Strobel, none produce the explosive high energy density found in this >>>fungus. Strobel said that the chemical mixture produced could be used in >>>a modern diesel engine without any modification. Another advantage of >>>the fungus is its ability to eat up cellulose, the compound that makes >>>up much of the organic waste that is currently discarded, such as stalks >>>and sawdust. Converting this plant waste into fuels is an important goal > >>for the biofuel industry, which currently uses food crops such as corn. >>> >>>"Fungi are very important but we often overlook these organisms," said >>>Tariq Butt, a fungus expert at Swansea University. "The discovery and >>>its potential applications are fantastic. However, more research is >>>needed, as well as a pilot study to determine the costs and benefits." >>>John Loughhead, executive director of the UK Energy Research Centre, >>>also welcomed the "encouraging" discovery but noted it was at its >>>earliest stage of development. >>> >>> >>> * guardian.co.uk (c) Guardian News and Media Limited 2008 >>> >>>-- > >>J. 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