Message-ID: <199707092033.OAA85290@lamar.ColoState.EDU> Date: Wed, 9 Jul 1997 14:33:49 -0600 From: Sarah Ward <mailto:sward@LAMAR.COLOSTATE.EDU> Subject: Quinoa patent To: mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU
Mr. Mooney, in his response to John Daly's recent posting, sounds a little desperate in his continued support for RAFI's campaign. I note with amusement that I have apparently metamorphosed from an evil biopirate to a naive "public scientist" who has "lacked the opportunity to study the issues". Maybe Mr. Mooney would like to attend my annual seminar for our graduate students on intellectual property rights in plant breeding. I am sure it would make for some interesting discussion. More seriously, Mr. Mooney claims that "according to Ward, new patents or PVPA certificates may be pending that also contain Andean quinoa". This is news to me. The patented cytoplasm under discussion has been retired to a freezer for more than three years due to lack of commercial potential, and there are no other patents currently in place, pending, or being sought in connection with any of the quinoa germplasm in Colorado State University's program. There are also no plans whatsoever to seek PVPA protection for any material currently in this program. As the current focus is on hybrid production from existing inbred cultivars, PVPA is hardly a viable option, as Mr. Mooney surely knows. I guess Mr. Mooney - being unable to demonstrate how the current patent has in any way affected Andean quinoa production - is hoping that we will either sell it (anybody out there want an unrestorable male sterile weed cytoplasm?) or oblige him with some other basis for a campaign. IS RAFI's real objection to the fact that an indigenous crop such as quinoa is now in commercial US production, and therefore US researchers such as myself are working to meet the challenges of adapting this material for US farmers? Given that commercial quinoa production in the US has generated the North American quinoa market from which Andean producers now benefit, that would be very ironic.Sarah Ward Assistant Professor of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523 (970) 491-6517 e-mail: mailto:sward@lamar.colostate.edu